Democratic lawmakers are questioning how the company Ingersoll Rand has been cleared to win contracts from the federal government despite violating what they say are rules that prohibit contracts from going to companies that organize overseas to avoid U.S. taxes.
“Ingersoll Rand and other companies that desert their tax responsibilities should not be rewarded with federal contracts,” wrote Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat, and a handful of other lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “That is why Congress has acted on multiple occasions to prohibit this behavior. While we recognize that Congress can, and should, do more to strengthen our laws, we are concerned that Ingersoll Rand is not being held accountable under our existing laws.”
The lawmakers are asking the U.S. Army Inspector General and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General to look into the matter.
A spokesman for the Homeland Security inspector general’s office told Bloomberg, which first reported the news, the agency was reviewing the lawmakers’ letter.
The company moved its address from New Jersey to Bermuda in 2001 after about 100 years as a U.S. corporation, and later moved its address to Ireland.
A law passed in 2002 banned DHS from awarding contracts to such “inverted” corporations unless the companies get a national security waiver, and the ban was expanded government-wide in 2008, according to Ms. DeLauro’s office.
Bloomberg said DHS endorsed a legal memo last year that argued in part the 2002 law was invalid, and the company had argued in part that U.S. trade agreements with foreign governments invalidated the law that would prohibit it from getting federal contracts.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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