Wisconsin Sen. Johnson defends investment in Irish company

Johnson, who is in a tight re-election fight with Democratic former Sen. Russ Feingold, denied in comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was using his investment in the Irish company as a way to dodge paying U.S. taxes.

Johnson, who is in a race that could determine whether Democrats retake control of the Senate, calls the investment a smart business move to get specialized plastic sheets made by the company he used to own, Pacur Inc., into Europe.

Feingold campaign spokesman Michael Tyler told The Associated Press that the issue "cuts to the heart of Sen. Johnson gaming the system for billionaires and multimillionaires like himself."

Ordinary corporate earnings are taxed at just 12.5 percent in Ireland and the country does not tax dividends earned by U.S. investors as they are leaving the country, as is commonly done in other countries.

Not enough is known about what Johnson did to draw conclusions about whether he was dodging taxes, said Stephen Shay, a senior lecturer on law with a specialty on international taxation at Harvard Law School.