Republicans struggling to pass a major tax overhaul that doesn't add to the federal deficit are discussing a kind of compromise: mixing permanent revisions with temporary rate cuts for individuals and businesses.

Officials on the House and Senate tax committees are talking with the White House about a hybrid approach that would combine lasting tax code changes to deter offshore profit shifting by corporations with lower rates for a number of years, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

Mixing and matching proposals—making some permanent and others temporary — could be a potential workaround for GOP leaders who want to use a budgetary process known as reconciliation to prevent Senate Democrats from blocking tax legislation. That course limits the scope of the overall bill because it requires that any tax changes that add to the nation's long-term deficit would have to expire.