A Tax Handout for Corporations?

As, some of you know I'm a fan of tax cuts.

I think we all pay too much in taxes.

So it might surprise you to find out I'm very much against a whopper of a tax cut Congress is debating now for corporations.  If some have their way the corporate minimum tax will soon be gone.  I have no problem with that.  I found this law that demands companies pay a minimum to Uncle Sam flawed from the beginning.

But, here's what bugs me.  Congress wants to give companies all the money they've paid into this tax — ever since it was enacted in 1986.  You heard me right, a retroactive refund back to 1986!

That's a lot of years and a lot of money.  Billions of dollars of money.

Under this absurd plan, IBM would get a nearly $1.5 billion refund.

Ford, a cool $1 billion.

General Motors, $833 million.
 
General Electric, nearly $700 million.

It's crazy and it's not fair.  Are you and I given these kinds of breaks?  A lot of us have been paying this ridiculous alternative minimum tax ourselves for years.  Why not make that retroactive too?

I'll tell you why not: Because it's stupid.  Because good tax policy encourages investments and prudent planning for the future, not admissions of failures in the past.  A giveaway, whether justified or not, doesn't do a damn thing.

Let me be clear. The corporate minimum tax was unfair. So eliminate it and set policy right now. Don't try to make up for lost time or dollars.  Using that logic, every American would have the right to walk up to his nearest IRS center and demand a refund on his overcharges.

Could you imagine the line for handouts? The descendents of former slaves demanding reparations. Irish, Italian, Polish, and who knows who else's descendents demanding past prejudices be monetarily righted.

Life doesn't work that way.  Nor should our government.

What do you think?  Send your comments to: cavuto@foxnews.com

Watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World with Neil Cavuto.