Timothy F. Geithner can't seem to talk enough these days about corporate tax reform. From D.C. to Davos, the Treasury secretary has chatted up chief executives and academics, bankers and labor groups, Republicans and Democrats, all in the name of fixing a tax code that most everyone agrees could use a major overhaul.
What remains unclear is whether the Obama administration actually intends to push for meaningful changes to the corporate tax code this year, or whether political obstacles will relegate Geithner's campaign to a mere plank in President Obama's new business-friendly platform.
Over the past few weeks, Geithner has met on multiple occasions with corporate leaders and others with a stake in the debate, with the aim of building support for the administration's proposal to dramatically reduce the 35 percent corporate tax rate while closing windows in the tax code that permit many corporations to pay much less.
Some of those who attended the powwows have left with the impression that little real action lies ahead.
"All this talk about tax reform is happy talk," said one participant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Treasury Department asked guests not to discuss the private meetings. "This is a way for them to talk about something the business community cares about, but it's not for real."
Others, however, see an administration determined to pursue real changes.
"I think they're committed to trying to get tax reform done," said Scott Talbott, chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, whose members have met with Geithner and members of Congress on the topic. "Their tone, their body language, their approach - everything they're doing leads me to believe they're serious."
Since the beginning of the year, Geithner has taken the temperature of a wide range of groups with an interest in changing the corporate tax code. There have been meetings with executives from Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil and Caterpillar; with think tanks as disparate as the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the liberal Citizens for Tax Justice; with advocacy groups such as the Business Roundtable and the AFL-CIO; and even with Bill Bradley, the former New Jersey senator who helped engineer the last major overhaul of the tax system in 1986.
In his recent State of the Union address, Obama issued an explicit call for a tax overhaul, saying it makes no sense that some companies and industries can end up paying no taxes while others are "hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world." He called on lawmakers to "level the playing field" by lowering the tax rate and eliminating loopholes.
Read more at the Washington Post.
