John Kerry: “today Representatives Ellsworth and Emanuel and Senator Obama and I are introducing the Fair Share Act of 2008 which…”

“today Representatives Ellsworth and Emanuel and Senator Obama and I are introducing the Fair Share Act of 2008 which ends the practice of U.S. Government contractors setting up shell companies in foreign jurisdictions to avoid payroll taxes. On March 6 2008, Farah Stockman of the Boston Globe reported that Kellogg, Brown and Root Inc. KBR, has avoided payroll taxes by hiring workers through shell companies in the Cayman Islands. The article estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll taxes have been avoided a disturbing, yet not all too surprising discovery. KBR is an American engineering and construction company, formerly a subsidiary of Halliburton, based in Houston, TX. Throughout its history, KBR and its predecessors have won numerous contracts with the United States military. In recent years, however, many of these contracts have been called into question based on everything from wasteful spending to mismanagement and lack of competition. The evasion of payroll taxes is yet one more serious misstep. The Fair Share Act of 2008 will end the practice of U.S. Government contractors setting up shell companies in foreign jurisdictions to avoid payroll taxes.”