Obama to Pitch Buffett Tax, Killing Corporate Tax Breaks

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday will issue a greatest hits list of ideas to raise $580 billion in new tax revenues over a decade, including a minimum tax on the wealthy and putting an end to some corporate tax breaks, administration officials said.

The president's 2014 budget proposal, expected to be released in full later on Wednesday, has no chance of moving forward in the divided U.S. Congress. But as lawmakers consider a revamp of the tax code and face a deadline on the government's debt limit this summer, some Obama measures could play a role.

The bid will revive Obama's offer last year to Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner during the negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff of looming tax hikes and spending cuts.

Senior administration official previewed the budget on condition of anonymity to reporters ahead of the release.

Obama will officially propose a new "Buffett tax" named for investor Warren Buffett that phases in a minimum 30 percent tax rate on household income above $1 million, the advisors said.

He had earlier backed the idea but not included it in his budget proposals.

The White House also will bring back a long-running proposal to cap itemized deductions and exemptions among wealthier taxpayers - starting at household income of roughly $250,000.

The cap would apply to the same list of deductions in years past, officials said. That includes the charitable tax break and the exemption for municipal bond interest.

Obama is not seeking to raise individual tax rates as he has in prior budgets, according to a White House document. For years, he sought to raise rates on household income above $250,000.

The fiscal cliff deal raised rates for households earning more than $450,000 a year, from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.

Also in the budget is ending the tax break for "carried interest" profits earned by fund managers like those who run private equity and other investment firms, officials said.

Administration officials also said to expect the White House to pitch familiar ideas to limit energy tax breaks, curb tax shifting to low-tax countries like the Cayman Islands, and a bid to end a tax break for corporate jets.

Obama proposes cutting the top U.S. corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent, now the highest in the industrialized world.

Obama has said that he backs a full-scale revamp of the entire tax code, both individual and corporate, and a White House summary called the budget proposals a "down payment."

Top tax-writers in Congress also back a tax rewrite, but the process is fraught with disagreement over how to streamline the code and whether to raise new revenue in the process. (Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Eric Walsh)