Rep. Levin could restructure bank tax

Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) emerged from a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying he might create a bank tax that is based on assets instead of one based on profit. 

"He made clear a profits tax would be much more difficult and nobody challenged that," he said. "I don't challenge that." 

Levin originally wanted to base the tax on profits. But yesterday, Geithner told a Senate panel that a tax based on assets would be the better approach to curbing excessive risk-taking by financial institutions - a chief goal for the White House in creating the levy. 

Still, the Chairman has yet to decide how he will structure the levy. 

"There was no effort here to reach a conclusion," he said. 

It is also unclear on when he will produce a bill on the tax. 

"There's going to be further work on it in the next weeks," he said. "We'll see where it goes."

Levin did allude that the tax would be used for deficit reduction instead of paying for future legislation. 

"The administration made clear its position and that is it should be used for deficit reduction," he said. "That's how we left it."