In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called on Congress to embark on a major revamp of corporate taxes: “[S]implify the system. Get rid of the loopholes. And use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years—without adding to our deficit.”

On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talked to The Wall Street Journal’s David Wessel about the initiative. Mr. Geithner emphasized the administration’s insistence on offsetting the corporate rate, now 35%, by eliminating deductions, credits and incentives.

Raising more revenue from businesses in light of global competition “isn’t realistic,” he said. But, given the deficit, “We can’t raise taxes on individuals to lower business taxes.”

He wouldn’t say if the administration wants to move from taxing multinational corporations’ global profits and instead tax only domestic profits, as most other countries do and as U.S. business wants. But he said a “level playing field” is a major goal.

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