I for one never begrudged U2 their success and I am not one of their knockers. They are a hard working professional Band who have worked hard at their craft for over 30 years. They have stayed living in Ireland and invest in the country. Indeed Bono (Paul Hewson) and The Edge (David Evans) live within bombast distance of a friend’s Martello Tower in Killiney Co. Dublin.
http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/07/killiney-martello-tower-no-7.html
Paul was a near neighbour on the Northside of Dublin growing up in Cedarwood whilst I lived down the road in Willow Park. I never knew him but Dublin is not a huge city and I would see him at the next bustop by the roundabout on Ballymun Avenue with a Dunnes Stores bag of records waiting for the 19A bus into town. There, like all of us in Dublin at the time, he and the guys would hang out in the Dandelion Market on Stephen’s Green, a development site which became a bit of a groovy market a bit like Camden Lock in London. We also had some mutual acquaintances and I caught some of their early concerts in the Project Arts Centre which acted as a catalyst for so much in the visual and performing arts in Dublin.
In common with others U2 have taken advantage of an extraordinary tax break introduced by Charles Haughey when he was Finance Minister which exempted royalties earned abroad from creative writing from income tax. Now this was originally intended to get writers to settle in Ireland and encourage native talent but it has been availed of by film directors, script writers and pop musicians all of whom structure their tax affairs to take the bulk of their income in royalties.
The Boys
Glastonbury organisers were accused yesterday of using heavy-handed tactics against demonstrators who tried to embarrass U2 during the rock group’s debut at the festival. Activists from protest group Art Uncut made their point by unfurling a 25-metre inflatable balloon bearing the slogan ‘U pay tax 2?’ in front of the 50,000 fans watching the band perform on the festivals Pyramid Stage. Friday’s protest was directed at U2’s 2006 decision to cut their tax bill by moving their business affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands.
Before 2006 U2 Ltd, which deals with U2’s royalties payments, was registered in Ireland, the band’s native country, for tax purposes. At the time, Ireland had an astonishing policy of allowing artists to pay zero tax on royalties. In 2006, the Irish government decided to cap the income which can be subject to this exemption at 250,000 Euros per annum. Following this change in the law, U2 Ltd decided to move their tax affairs to Holland in order to pay less tax.
Irish politicians called it a cynical tax-avoidance ploy by the world’s highest-earning musicians, who last year raked in about £80 million. Members of the 30-strong group of activists, who were aged between 18 and 35 and included a teacher, artists and musicians, said within minutes of the unveiling they were set upon by security guards, who pinned protesters to the wall and left one, 23-year-old Claudia Stevens, with a broken finger.
U2 business acumen is legendary directed by their “5th Member”, their Manager Paul McGuiness who has always directed their affairs and who takes an equal share with the band members. U2’s members are worth almost £1 billion between them through savvy investments. The band was one of the first music successes to obtain all rights to its music. Frontman Bono, 51, and lead guitarist The Edge, 49, each own 25 per cent of Dublin’s Clarence Hotel. Bono, who has a £300 million stake in Facebook and a £220 million share in media company Forbes Media LLC, owns properties worth more than £30 million.
Meanwhile, The Edge has a £30 million Californian mansion; bassist Adam Clayton, 51, has a £12.5 million house in London plus a home near Nice, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr, 49, owns properties in upstate New York and the French Riviera worth a total of £30 million. Now they are not the first band to organise their affairs to minimise their tax payments, the Rolling Stones for instance have always been a company in the Netherland Antilles, but it does sit uneasily with Bono’s pronouncements on Western Nations not giving enough to Africa.
Indeed I am worried that with Bono and Chris Martin both at Glastonbury nobody is looking after Africa. I shouldn’t have worried as it turns out Bono asked God to deputise for him over the weekend!
Here is UK Uncuts argument on their website;
http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/art-uncut-its-crucial-we-send-a-message-to-bono-that-what-he-is-doing-is-wrong
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