Bono may be celebrated for browbeating world leaders into funding debt relief for developing countries, but his Irish rock band is facing criticism for switching its financial affairs overseas to avoid paying higher taxes.
U2's move has been revealed as Bono's venture capital firm, Elevation Partners, confirmed it had invested around US$300 million in Forbes, the US business magazine frequently described as the "bible of capitalism."
Irish politicians have expressed surprise at U2's decision to move part of its multi-million dollar operation from Ireland to Amsterdam.
The tax rate on royalty earnings in the Netherlands -- where many of the Rolling Stones' assets are based -- is the lowest in Europe.
U2's changeover may have been triggered by reforms announced last December by the Irish finance minister, Brian Cowen, who imposed a cap of 250,000 euros (US$321,000) on tax-free incomes for artists resident in the republic. Before the cap, the scheme attracted many famous names to Ireland. But the government came under pressure to curtail the incomes of those benefiting disproportionately from the scheme.
"We cannot stand over a situation in which some high-earning tax residents, through the use of incentive reliefs, can reduce their taxable income to nil," Cowen said:
"Having listened to Bono on the necessity for the Irish government to give more money to Ireland Aid ... I am surprised that U2 are not prepared to contribute to the exchequer on a fair basis along with the bulk of Irish taxpayers," said Joan Burton, the Irish Labour Party's finance spokeswoman.
Corporation tax in Ireland is only 12.5 percent. The standard rate of personal tax is 20 per-cent, rising to a top rate of 42 percent. The band had been able to claim artists' tax relief as songwriters, but the scheme did not cover income from tours and performances.
Alongside Bob Geldof, Bono has spent years cajoling US presidents and other world leaders into increasing debt relief to poorer countries, improving aid to Africa and helping Aids victims. U2's donations to aid organizations have always remained anonymous, although the royalties from several of their songs have been given to charities.
The band will continue to live and work in Ireland, paying other taxes, an industry source said.
Like other bands, the source added, U2 "try to be as tax efficient as possible."
Principle Management, which controls U2's financial affairs, would not comment.
Elevation Partners is a private venture capital firm with six partners, one of whom is Bono. It has an estimated capital value of 1.9 billion euros. U2 were said to be the world's most lucrative group last year, earning more than 210 million euros.
Their success, however, has generated signs of resentment.
Proposals to construct a so-called U2 Tower -- the tallest residential development in Ireland on the southside of the Liffey river -- have drawn complaints from locals in Dublin's Ringsend. The tower, a 31-floor construction, will house luxury apartments and provide space for the band's recording studios.
"This tower is going to appear as a monstrosity in what used to be a small maritime village," said Damien Cassidy of the Ringsend Environmental Group.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS