By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democratic and Republican tax writers in the Senate will within weeks begin circulating concrete ideas for revamping the tax code in an attempt to kick-start legislation for this year, according to a committee aide.

The aide, who asked not to be identified, said this preliminary attempt would focus on hot topics such as eliminating tax "loopholes" that are sapping revenues at a time of high federal budget deficits and potential tax changes for small businesses.

The ideas are being developed for debate by the Senate Finance Committee, in charge of tax policy in that body. A U.S. House of Representatives panel is working on a parallel track.

Staff to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and the panel's top Republican, Orrin Hatch, are working in a rare bipartisan fashion to produce the papers, the aide said.

With most Democrats and Republicans squabbling over the automatic spending cuts and legislation to keep the government running, the lawmakers are swimming against the tide in seeking a tax overhaul this year.

Baucus is also working in tandem with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, a Republican.

"The hope is that should a tax reform process or vehicle be created, the blueprint will be ready on the shelf," Chris Krueger, an analyst for investors at Guggenheim wrote in a research note recently.

(Reporting By Kim Dixon; Editing by Doina Chiacu)