Tax holidays can be a welcome allowance for some large multinational U.S.-based companies that store large amounts of cash overseas. Those companies tend to keep some of their cash offshore because they would have to pay a 35 percent tax on that money to bring it into the U.S.

But in 2004, companies got a break from this 35 percent tax. And now many of them are asking for another.

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 allowed companies to funnel their cash back into the U.S. but at a much smaller tax rate—only 5 percent. The purpose of the Act that gave companies this so-called tax holiday is right there in its name—to create jobs.