Reagan Called Unyielding on 3 Tax Items : He’s Firm on Top Rate, Mortgage Breaks, Aid to Poor, Baker Says

WASHINGTON â€”  Secretary of the Treasury James A. Baker III told members of the House Ways and Means Committee Saturday that President Reagan is flexible on all but three provisions of his proposed overhaul of the tax code.

Baker said that Reagan will insist on preservation of the tax deduction for home-mortgage interest, a top tax rate for individuals no higher than 35% and a decrease in the tax burden on the poor, according to sources present at a closed meeting.

Baker’s remarks, delivered at a committee retreat at Airlie House in Virginia hunt country, were notable because they implied that the Administration would negotiate on such other controversial items as the proposed termination of the deduction for state and local taxes and the reduction of the corporate tax rate from 46% to 33%.

Less Firm on Corporate Rate

Baker was asked whether the Administration’s firmness on the top personal tax rate also applied to the top corporate rate. He responded that it did not, sources said.

Today, the tax writers will try to agree on what type of tax revision should emerge from their committee, which will begin writing a bill near the end of this month. Saturday’s sessions of the much-heralded “retreat� were principally taken up with presentations by academic tax experts.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) told the assembled members that he was “absolutely� committed to moving a tax bill through his committee and the House. While he did not specify what ought to be in that tax bill, Rostenkowski said he wants a plan that will produce economic growth and treat all taxpayers equally, creating a “level playing field� rather than providing special incentives for certain sectors of the economy.

Lobbyists Concerned

With an Administration proposal on the table and bill-writing sessions nearing, the weekend meetings have raised far more concern among lobbyists than a similar meeting last October in Florida. Members said Saturday that they had been peppered with telephone calls from representatives of interest groups asking legislators to make a pitch for them at the retreat.

In his St. Louis office Friday, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) had a steady stream of unannounced visitors worried about the meeting.

‘Everybody’s Gone Crazy’

“I was just deluged with people calling the office, coming to see me and passing me notes,� Gephardt said. “Everybody’s gone crazy.�

Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) said that he had received “I can’t tell you how many� phone calls from Washington and from his Sacramento district.

Even the academics who made presentations at the retreat said that they had received piles of studies and documentation from interest groups pleading their cases. Several received packets from the hamburger chain Burger King via Federal Express, although it could not be learned what Burger King was asking for.

If the Administration agrees to compromise on the corporate tax rate, it could lose much of the business support for its plan. Several of the organizations working for the proposal have said that their participation depends on a corporate rate no higher than 33%.

Already, some business groups are losing heart. A large coalition of small-business groups expressed dismay late last week at the Treasury Department’s decision to remove from its plan a proposal to link the value of inventories--unsold goods--to inflation for taxation purposes.