Obama seeks billions more from international tax system

President Obama seeks to raise more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in new revenue from the international tax system in his newly released budget.

{mosads}The $276 billion worth of changes over a decade are part of the White House’s broader efforts to reform the corporate tax system and pour new revenues into the highway trust fund.

Like other proposals in the budget, several of the White House proposals have been brought back from previous frameworks. In all, Obama seeks billions of dollars more in changes to the international tax system than a year ago.

The proposed changes include reclassifying – and thus making it harder to defer taxes – on certain transactions involving digital goods. The biggest of the proposals would tax certain excess returns from offshore transfers, to the tune of $75 billion.

Republicans and Democrats remain divided over how to proceed on tax reform, with Democrats wanting any overhaul to produce more revenue and the White House showing much more interest in just revamping the corporate system. Republicans want no new revenues, and a more comprehensive approach to rewriting the tax code.

Obama’s proposal to limit certain corporate tax breaks came as he also sought to raise new taxes on the wealthy through the “Buffett Rule,” and to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, a key incentive for the working poor.