In 2006, U2 moved their business to Netherlands to take advantage of the lower tax rates and for anybody else in the world it wouldn’t much bother me, but Bono is such a hypocrite he ends up like Bruce with his farmland in New Jersey.
Bono’s recent statements about it don’t really make that much sense to be honest, but here was his response to the complaint that he’s a tax cheat. This is off the Irish Central:
“‘At the heart of the Irish Economy has always been the philosophy of tax competitiveness. Tax competitiveness has taken our country out of poverty,’ he said.
‘People in the revenue accept that if you engage in that policy then some people are going to go out, and some people are coming in.
‘It has been a successful policy. On the cranky left that is very annoying, I can see that. But tax competitiveness is why Ireland has stayed afloat.
‘When the Germans tried to impose a different tax regime on the country in exchange for a bailout, the Taoiseach said they would rather not have the bailout. So U2 is in total harmony with our government’s philosophy.’
Admitting that some critics ‘probably have a point’ to blast their tax arrangements, Bono said they should focus on commitment to aid work in Africa instead.
‘I think for many reasons people have taken a dislike to our band and to me. This is another one. I have worked as an activist for all my adult life, and I think overall that no one can doubt we have been pretty effective.’
According to the Irish Mirror Bono revealed that U2 handed over $14 million from their last tour to the African charity RED, but he insisted will never give away all of their cash.
‘But you do not end poverty by alms,’ Bono continued. ‘It is a structural thing. You know I am quite often in a pub in wherever, and put up against a wall by people who have quite simplistic ideas about how to end poverty. And I listen, and then I try to get on with what I do.’
I’m not gonna use this to beat up on Bono (though I’d like to) because in the end the problem with the West doesn’t lie in Bono paying his taxes (or bragging about how much money he gives to charity) but in Governments complete inability to battle either the monopolies or the unions, between the two of them have lead to the current calamities. The Government Employees are gonna bankrupt the Government eventually and the monopolies and gonna cut jobs and lead to something beyond price fixing.
In theory an open market should be the best arbitrator of salaries and costs but if the two biggest members of an industry decide to price their smaller comptetitorsd out, they can sell product below cost till the other companies are bankrupt and then once they have disappeared, raise their prices much higher.
This is not to excuse Bono for being a tax cheat, this has more to do with how to explain how Capitalism stopped functioning. As for Tax, it is the government’s job to get the money that’s coming to them. If Bono didn’t break the law, he might be a hypocrite but he isn’t a thief.
If Ireland, really wanna get U2 (and, obviously, that’s just a drop in the bucket), then they better fix their tax laws.