WASHINGTON — Signaling new movement in “fiscal cliff” talks, House Speaker John Boehner has proposed raising the top rate for earners making more than $1 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said. President Barack Obama, who wants higher top rates for households earning more than $250,000, has not accepted the offer, this person said.

The proposal, however, indicated progress in talks that had appeared stalled. The person would discuss the plan only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The offer, made in a phone call Saturday between the two leaders, marks the first time Boehner has entertained an increase in income-tax rates in talks with Obama to avoid more than $600 billion in automatic spending cuts and across-theboard tax increases set to start Jan. 1.

As part of a broader budget deal, Boehner is still seeking more spending cuts than Obama has proposed, particularly in mandatory health-care spending. Boehner has asked for a long-term increase in the eligibility age for Medicare and for lower cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security.

Brendan Buck, the Ohio Republican’s spokesman, declined to comment on the offer, which was first reported Saturday by Politico. “We have not commented on the content of private discussions, and we’re certainly not going to comment on rumors,” he said.

At issue are expiring tax rates that would automatically increase on Jan. 1 for virtually every income-tax payer if Congress and the president don’t act. Steep budget cuts are also scheduled to kick in, unless Congress and Obama agree to forestall them with other deficit-reduction measures.

Information for this article was contributed by Margaret Talev and Heidi Przybyla of Bloomberg News.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/16/2012