U2′s Taxes In The News Today x 2
Today, on the very same day, we have two op-eds bringing “the eternal note of U2′s taxes in” (sorry, Matthew Arnold).
Kevin Myers of Ireland’s The Independent weighs in on the normal issues surrounding this topic, while also responding to the Glastonbury Festival Michael Eavis’ move to crack down on protestors who came to disapprove of U2. I liked reading this piece, at the very least because he took the clever approach of linking U2′s operations with the other U2′s operations, as you pick up in the headline “When historians look back at the 20th century they’ll write about real U2: the Lockheed spy plane.”
Myers condones U2′s business decision but can’t resist getting his digs in on what he thinks is Bono’s hypocrisy:
… I know their manager Paul McGuinness well: a man of outstanding personal integrity. Moreover, you will not hear from him, or from three members of U2, any demands that western governments give more aid to Africa. We only hear this from Bono, even as he takes advantage of tax loopholes to reduce his contribution to the central Exchequer from which aid to Africa must come.
And then in an unusual move for The Edge, he responded in print to Simon Moroney’s recent letter to the editor, “Senator Cardin’s affection for Bono’ foundation is indefensible,” which appeared in The Baltimore Sun. ( Here is Senator Cardin’s op-ed that prompted Moroney to write.)
In “The Edge: U2, Bono have not evaded taxes,” he suggests Moroney may have libeled U2 and Bono by calling them tax evaders (which they are not, Edge says). Then Edge adds:
I hope that his [Moroney's] fears of an Obama tax increase affecting him personally turn out to be as unfounded as his statements about U2′s tax affairs and Bono’s ONE campaign.
Just after I had read Kevin Myers maintain I would not hear from other members of U2 “any demands that western governments give more aid to Africa,” I read The Edge speak up for Bono’s ONE campaign which, sure, is not the same as The Edge demanding more aid from a western government go to Africa, but I get the strong sense that if The Edge would write a letter to The Baltimore Sun to speak up for the ONE campaign, he probably approves of the methods and goals of DATA and Bono’s humanitarian advocacy work in general.
Last 4 posts by calhouns
- U2 in the Rock Hall Library + Archives: Open for Learning - April 11th, 2012
- U2 Still In "The Story of Christian Rock" - January 13th, 2012
- Kids' "My 1st U2 Concert" T-Shirts Do The Trick In Montreal - July 11th, 2011
- Derek Webb's ONE from Nashville - July 1st, 2011
The latest article written for the Baltimore Sun has left me angry and ashamed that a so called journalist would write something so baseless and wrong on so many levels. Tax calculations are complex and artists with the degree of public exposure that U2 has cannot get away with not paying taxes. It just is not possible. The many millions of dollars that U2 has paid over the years on an international basis is probably staggering to most people. The protestors and inept journalists should not speak or write what they do not understand. Tax evasion can be a criminal action. How dare these people claim what they do not know for cheap headlines or attention. The Baltimore Sun should retract that article on a formal basis. This topic has angered me in the past, but I chose to ignore it, but now it is ridiculous. Edge’s comments are mild he could have gone further. They need to hire an attorney and stop this claim.
To defend journalists just a bit, I don’t think Simon Moroney is one. I gather he is a reader of The Baltimore Sun and he wrote a letter to the paper in response to this June 24th op-ed by Senator Cardin: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-cardin-one-campaign-letter-20110624,0,3291486.story
Thanks calhouns for pointing out that Mr. Moroney is not a journalist. So he is just another person on the internet who writes baseless information on topics he has no clue about. He is a federal worker who does not want his state senator to support ONE. Mr. Moroney like many other protestors are angry with the tax laws that have been established to allow certain businesses to avoid multiple layers of taxation. I am not a rich person, but I went college and have taken classes, and understand that multiple layers of taxation can be detrimental. However, think about this from just the facts - U2 pay taxes as a business entity, and then each member has to pay taxes as individuals. They do pay a lot of money in taxes. The other issue that is troubling is why so many people are upset that any member of U2 may turn their profit into more business ventures to create more jobs. I would think that U2 has many advisors, and if they choose to move a small portion of their business to Holland for music publishing, there must have been a reason. Reading and learning the laws are important before condeming U2 to criminal actions. The price of fame and fortune is high, but I still admire U2 and Bono in particular, for the support of eliminating poverty, Amnesty International, Aung San Suu Kyi, etc. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all truly cared for each other, instead of fighting and experiencing the hatred, and terrible wars the human race has to endure.
I wish people would get it through their thick heads once and for all that U2 are not evading taxes; they just moved part of their business to another country.
It seems to me that U2 are just another target in the whole Hate-The-Rich mentality that is being encouraged by people on the left (like Obama in the US). I read the piece that Edge was responding to and the guy who wrote it seems to be playing along with that attitude (he says he’s a Democrat). He lists a bunch of rich-guy possessions that Bono has, as if that’s supposed to make us feel outraged because we don’t have that stuff and he does; and, to top it all off, he doesn’t pay taxes, either! Well, I guess we’d better get the torches and pitchforks!
You are missing the basic point here. What U2 is doing with regards to their tax affairs is entirely legal. This is not a legal issue, but a moral one. Unfortunately as a long-time U2 fan, the band is falling short in the moral area with regards to their tax affairs. It’s simple really. Taxes are used - in Ireland for instance - to pay for health care, old age pensions etc etc. If all major corporations - like U2 - move big part of their tax affairs off shore, governments won’t have the money to pay for these basic services. U2 should admit that they are “nasty capitalists”. They are being nailed because they are not honest and moral. Legally they are paying taxes etc….
In response to R, U2 are a target because of ignorance on the part of clueless critics, not because of the so called “Hate-the-rich” mentality that you say is “encouraged by the left.” What the fuck? Did not expect that kind of pettiness and ignorance here.
Funny that some people would claim that Ireland can’t make its payments because U2 moved some of its business offshore.
Guess what folks…the government of Ireland is much like that of the US. They mismanage what they are given. Ireland isn’t in trouble because of U2 not paying potentially a few million dollars. They are in trouble because polititans made promises that could not be kept. Plain and simple. Lets not put any government on moral high ground now, please.
@indie:
That’s pretty petty of you to call someone ignorant just because you don’t agree with their statements.
The issue here is not that u2 avoid paying taxes, it’s that they’re not Paying as much as they should. They have indeed used their irish background as a selling point, and bono does hassle world leaders to commit more money for africa, they then up sticks and move to the netherlands where they can enjoy the kind of tax benefits there like they’ve had in ireland for thefirst 20 years of their career. Their fellow countrymen’s schools and hospitals are being closed, so that they can add another million to their profits, for whose benefit? Bono should either stop blathering on about africa and stop putting such emphasis on their irishness in order to win fans, or move their business back to ireland and start giving back to the country that gave them so much. And while they’re at it, make a better album than that horizon nonsense.
It is sad that anything affiliated with U2 where generally like minded people converge would have such differences in ideals as those voiced by “Small people, with small minds, and small ideas.” While I didn’t read the entire article it appears that we as americans have missed several points! First, it is not our business to provide opinions about another country’s citizens, politics, or finances. If we followed this mantra we would not have troops in every country or have the largest defense budget in the world and we would have far fewer enemies for pushing our ways on them. If the irish want to protest then they should be allowed. However,I question why we are even commenting on it in the Baltimore Sun? As Americans we have taken up the mentality that we can and should voice our opinion about something that doesn’t concern us. In addition, not all financial problems are the result of their present administration, no matter the country. The global economy crashed because we are all linked together by trade and currency. When large economies deflate, others are not far behind.
The one thing that I am glad will never change about U2 fans is that we are all passionate about what we believe in. That is what makes us special!