ONE PARTY GOVERNMENT:

Topics being discussed include whether to eliminate the U.S. system of taxing companies on their world-wide income, what safeguards to adopt to prevent future abuses and whether to provide special tax treatment for intellectual property.

There is already one area of clear agreement. All sides acknowledge that an overhaul could raise revenues for highways by imposing a one-time tax on foreign corporate earnings sitting offshore.

"Everyone is largely in agreement on the building blocks of a deal," said Rep. John Delaney (D., Md.), a longtime backer of the idea. Mr. Delaney said negotiators are thinking, "Let's get the framework set, so then we can arm wrestle on the numbers."

Overhauling the U.S. system for taxing multinational businesses has been a priority for Republicans, as well as some Democrats. Propelling this year's discussions, which are being led by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), is the realization that a tax overhaul could be coupled with a boost in highway funding, a priority of the Obama administration and Democrats.

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