Although President Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2014 does not sit well with congressional Republicans overall, a provision for taxing derivatives shares some common ground with a plan previously offered by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.).

That level of agreement is notable in the context of ongoing negotiations for sweeping tax reforms.

On derivatives, for example, both the president and Camp have now proposed mark-to-market regimes. They would require reporting a gain or loss from a derivative contract on an annual basis, as if the contract were sold for its fair-market value no later than the last business day of the taxpayer's taxable year.