Bono Rejects Criticism of U2 Tax Status

Good for Bono:

U2 SINGER Bono says he was “stung” and “hurt” by criticism of the band moving part of its business to the Netherlands to lessen its tax burden.

In an interview in The Ticket today, he speaks about the band’s 2006 decision to move part of its business out of Ireland following the Government’s decision to put a cap on the amount of tax-free earnings available to artists.

U2’s move was criticised by politicians and some development groups. “We pay millions and millions of dollars in tax. The thing that stung us [about the criticism] was the accusation of hypocrisy for my work as an activist,” the singer says.

He suggests there is a double standard involved in welcoming international investment in financial services in Ireland while criticising Irish entities that operate abroad.

“I can understand how people outside the country wouldn’t understand how Ireland got to its prosperity but everybody in Ireland knows that there are some very clever people in the Government and in the Revenue who created a financial architecture that prospered the entire nation – it was a way of attracting people to this country who wouldn’t normally do business here,” he says. “And the financial services brought billions of dollars every year directly to the exchequer.

“What’s actually hypocritical is the idea that then you couldn’t use a financial services centre in Holland. The real question people need to ask about Ireland’s tax policy is: ‘Was the nation a net gain benefactor?’ And of course it was – hugely so.”

Making a smart tax move has little to do with philanthropic work. You can be both tax-smart and an advocate of charitable giving. Render unto Caesar and all that.