July 14, 2011

Link

U2 are not tax evaders, as a band or individually, according to their guitarist The Edge.

The musician - real name David Evans - has spoken out about accusations that the Irish rockers are avoiding paying tax by basing part of their business operations in Holland.

His comments were sparked by Simon Moroney, a US Federal Worker, who voiced his views about the band's financial affairs in a letter to the Baltimore Sun earlier this month (July 7).

Specifically, Moroney criticized Maryland Senator Benjamin Cardin for supporting frontman Bono's anti-poverty campaignONE. He said the singer "exemplifies the worst characteristics of Wall Street, both for excess and tax evasion".

Penning his own missive to the newspaper, The Edge said that suggesting Bono and co are involved in tax evasion is "possibly libellous".

"For the record, U2 and the individual band members have a totally clean record with every jurisdiction to which they are required to pay tax and have never been and will never be involved in tax evasion,"The Edge said.

He continued: "U2 and its members have paid many, many millions of dollars in taxes to the United States Internal Revenue Service over the years."

His remarks came after campaigners Art Uncut launched a protest about the band's finances during their headline set at Glastonburylast month (June 24).

Violence broke out in the crowd when a festival security team reportedly wrestled the protestors to the ground, after they floated a banned with the message "U pay tax 2?".

Then why did y'all leave for Switzerland then if you're not evading taxes??? Ugh this band gets on my nerves sometimes.

jealousy rears it´s ugly head

I love U2. I guess I almost find it hard to believe why this fucking prick has a hard time with the band. They've certainly paid much, much more in taxes than this guy could ever dream of, he should just shut the fuck up.

Timmy84 said:

Then why did y'all leave for Switzerland then if you're not evading taxes??? Ugh this band gets on my nerves sometimes.

Its actually not unusual that they do it that way, i mean people lease cars or register insurance say in NEW JERSEY will they live in NYC because of the tax rates, that is also "cheating" the system, but it kills me because they arent evading taxes, EVADING would mean there is a bill and you didnt pay it, kind of like what Prince has been doing for the last decade, but u2 has no bill owed, i mean Bono has residence here in nyc he pays those taxes, the band pays alot more than 99.9% of the artists we speak of on this forum, its funny because if this were a "so called" rb legend that didnt pay taxes we would be trying to "bend the story" so they look all clean in it. Also the charge is libellous, and i would sue on principal and donate the settlement, its libellous because you flat out accused them of a crime with no proof at all.

lastdecember said:

Timmy84 said:

Then why did y'all leave for Switzerland then if you're not evading taxes??? Ugh this band gets on my nerves sometimes.

Its actually not unusual that they do it that way, i mean people lease cars or register insurance say in NEW JERSEY will they live in NYC because of the tax rates, that is also "cheating" the system, but it kills me because they arent evading taxes, EVADING would mean there is a bill and you didnt pay it, kind of like what Prince has been doing for the last decade, but u2 has no bill owed, i mean Bono has residence here in nyc he pays those taxes, the band pays alot more than 99.9% of the artists we speak of on this forum, its funny because if this were a "so called" rb legend that didnt pay taxes we would be trying to "bend the story" so they look all clean in it. Also the charge is libellous, and i would sue on principal and donate the settlement, its libellous because you flat out accused them of a crime with no proof at all.

Then in that case, whoever's claiming they did need to get off their too rich dicks then and actually do some work instead of harassing people both famous and non-famous for payments. I saw how they did Marvin and Willie...

Why does anyone care?

abigail05 said:

They've certainly paid much, much more in taxes than this guy could ever dream of

It's about the hypocrisy.

The Who's Roger Daltrey Slams U2's Alleged Tax Avoidance

July 16, 2011

The Who's frontman Roger Daltrey has slammed U2 after it was claimed the Irish rockers are avoiding paying tax by basing part of their business operations in Holland.

The singer weighed in on recent accusations that the switch was made so they could enjoy tax breaks.

"I find it very interesting that people who spout socialism don’t want to pay for a socialist state," he told The Daily Star.

His comments come after U2 guitarist The Edge denied the band were tax evaders.

Daltrey also attacked the coalition government's immigration policy and previous Labour governments over the issue.

He claims immigrants who fail to pay taxes in Britain have "undercut" the country's working class.

"They don't realise how hard the average man has to work to pay those taxes," he said. "I don’t see anybody in the Government with a pair of balls. They’re so spineless. Nobody is in charge and nobody wants to accept responsibility."

http://www.nme.com/news/the-who/58065

Identity said:

The Who's Roger Daltrey Slams U2's Alleged Tax Avoidance

July 16, 2011

The Who's frontman Roger Daltrey has slammed U2 after it was claimed the Irish rockers are avoiding paying tax by basing part of their business operations in Holland.

The singer weighed in on recent accusations that the switch was made so they could enjoy tax breaks.

"I find it very interesting that people who spout socialism don’t want to pay for a socialist state," he told The Daily Star.

His comments come after U2 guitarist The Edge denied the band were tax evaders.

Daltrey also attacked the coalition government's immigration policy and previous Labour governments over the issue.

He claims immigrants who fail to pay taxes in Britain have "undercut" the country's working class.

"They don't realise how hard the average man has to work to pay those taxes," he said. "I don’t see anybody in the Government with a pair of balls. They’re so spineless. Nobody is in charge and nobody wants to accept responsibility."

http://www.nme.com/news/the-who/58065

Considering there are tons of Celebs and Musicians that dont even bother paying ANY TAX at all on their property, tours, music, and earnings, its amazing that U2 doing something that TONS of other people do everyday, including other musicians with $$. Roger Daltrey's opinion is irrelevant because his band is irrelelvant, since he has had tax issues himself and his band has too, so people in glass houses shouldnt talk, at least they are paying their share, EVADING is when you owe and dont pay, kind of like when Prince is your boss

The only reason why people criticize U2 for not paying taxes because it's cool to hate U2. If they were considered the coolest band in the world, no one would give a fuck whether they pay taxes or not.

I think some people are missing the point. U2 is not leaving town while owing Ireland taxes. They have, allegedly, paid all of their taxes owed to Ireland. They are simply moving their base of business from one country to another.

Shawnt27 said:

I think some people are missing the point. U2 is not leaving town while owing Ireland taxes. They have, allegedly, paid all of their taxes owed to Ireland. They are simply moving their base of business from one country to another.

They're not missing the point; they're just using the wrong terminology. Legally, U2 aren't tax "evaders". What they are are incredible hypocrites.

"Bono" runs around preaching social justice, yet hightails it outta Dodge as soon as some of their tax breaks are terminated.

Again, it is the height of hypocrisy, but certainly doesn't surprise me coming from Mr. Hewson, who could very well be The Most Full of Shit Person Ever.

Ace said:

Shawnt27 said:

I think some people are missing the point. U2 is not leaving town while owing Ireland taxes. They have, allegedly, paid all of their taxes owed to Ireland. They are simply moving their base of business from one country to another.

They're not missing the point; they're just using the wrong terminology. Legally, U2 aren't tax "evaders". What they are are incredible hypocrites.

"Bono" runs around preaching social justice, yet hightails it outta Dodge as soon as some of their tax breaks are terminated.

Again, it is the height of hypocrisy, but certainly doesn't surprise me coming from Mr. Hewson, who could very well be The Most Full of Shit Person Ever.

well that is a stretch, but lets be honest then, who is using a double standard in their everyday life? And further it there are tons of politicians and more musicians that do WORSE things than this. Also U2 is just moving their business if every $$ they made was in Ireland than their is a case but they dont, most of their money isnt even made in that country, and as americans we shouldnt talk aboout sending jobs and things like that overseas to escape PAYING for things, we are the nation that has built on that idea. This whole thing is garbage its like saying someone that grows up in a shitty neighborhood, when they make money they have to stay in that shit hood, which is bullshit, who does that? name one person that suddenly is RICH and living in the same house and owning the same shit they had when they were poor. U2 is basically boycotting a system they think is wrong in their country, if i were them i would be out of ireland too, they dont owe them shit.

lastdecember said:

Ace said:

They're not missing the point; they're just using the wrong terminology. Legally, U2 aren't tax "evaders". What they are are incredible hypocrites.

"Bono" runs around preaching social justice, yet hightails it outta Dodge as soon as some of their tax breaks are terminated.

Again, it is the height of hypocrisy, but certainly doesn't surprise me coming from Mr. Hewson, who could very well be The Most Full of Shit Person Ever.

well that is a stretch, but lets be honest then, who is using a double standard in their everyday life? And further it there are tons of politicians and more musicians that do WORSE things than this. Also U2 is just moving their business if every $$ they made was in Ireland than their is a case but they dont, most of their money isnt even made in that country, and as americans we shouldnt talk aboout sending jobs and things like that overseas to escape PAYING for things, we are the nation that has built on that idea. This whole thing is garbage its like saying someone that grows up in a shitty neighborhood, when they make money they have to stay in that shit hood, which is bullshit, who does that? name one person that suddenly is RICH and living in the same house and owning the same shit they had when they were poor. U2 is basically boycotting a system they think is wrong in their country, if i were them i would be out of ireland too, they dont owe them shit.

Again, it's about the hypocrisy.

Ace said:

Shawnt27 said:

I think some people are missing the point. U2 is not leaving town while owing Ireland taxes. They have, allegedly, paid all of their taxes owed to Ireland. They are simply moving their base of business from one country to another.

They're not missing the point; they're just using the wrong terminology. Legally, U2 aren't tax "evaders". What they are are incredible hypocrites.

"Bono" runs around preaching social justice, yet hightails it outta Dodge as soon as some of their tax breaks are terminated.

Again, it is the height of hypocrisy, but certainly doesn't surprise me coming from Mr. Hewson, who could very well be The Most Full of Shit Person Ever.

Right! UBoo.

It is very simple, Bono preaches to the world whilst moving his company to another country to get better tax rates so that he can get even richer. It is hypocritical. Particularly as Ireland has huge financial difficulties. Unfortunately your average Joe can't choose to pay his taxes wherever he gets the best deal.

GettOffMyLand said:

It is very simple, Bono preaches to the world whilst moving his company to another country to get better tax rates so that he can get even richer. It is hypocritical. Particularly as Ireland has huge financial difficulties. Unfortunately your average Joe can't choose to pay his taxes wherever he gets the best deal.

And therein lies the difference.

Timmy84 said:

GettOffMyLand said:

It is very simple, Bono preaches to the world whilst moving his company to another country to get better tax rates so that he can get even richer. It is hypocritical. Particularly as Ireland has huge financial difficulties. Unfortunately your average Joe can't choose to pay his taxes wherever he gets the best deal.

And therein lies the difference.

But every country has fiscal issues, this country is about 2 weeks away from defaulting on everything and then shit is really gonna hit, you think motherfuckers cant get loans now, come back after August 3rd if this stalemate in the Govt doesnt break. But what kills me is that this is only an issue because its Bono, and really no one has the facts straight because they are equating this with Escaping from a country not paying them, all members of u2 pay taxes their because they are citizens of that country, its funny that no one has an issue with say the corporations in America...like...ummm...APPLE that bases everything overseas, though american owned and now is bringing profits back to the US because our tax rate is LOW because the Rich in this country get everything handed to them by the poor paying for it, but somehow no one opens their eyes to this when they play their fucking iPod, if people are that firm on "hypocrits" dont support anything apple owned.

edit - wrong thread lol

[Edited 7/18/11 4:59am]

lastdecember said:

But what kills me is that this is only an issue because its Bono, and really no one has the facts straight

Oh, everyone has the facts straight. And it's not just because it's little "Bono". If Springsteen moved his business out of Jersey to pay less taxes (for instance), you'd never hear the fucking end of it.

It's hypocrisy, through and through.

Ace said:

Identity said:

He continued: "U2 and its members have paid many, many millions of dollars in taxes to the United States Internal Revenue Service over the years."

this is about them paying taxes to the US?

lastdecember said:

Well the reason that all this is a waste of time is people on here keep citing Bono this and that last time i checked there were 4members in the group plus managers and lawyers and accountants etc...

Okay, so they're all hypocrites.

next citing Bruce is an easy way out to prove a point because he has jersey tattooed on his ass like jon bon jovi does, but lets face it if this were john mellencamp moving out if his town no one care and no one would care if it were95% of the population

Actually, Mellencamp's image is also strongly tied to the working man, so his fans would care.

people that bitch about labels and music and they were the ones that caused the situation by buying cheap cds and not supporting music

So, U2's sheltering their hundreds of millions in the Netherlands because people "(bought) cheap cds"?

I agree with Ace's points and I'm gonna leave it at that.

Ace said:

lastdecember said:

Well the reason that all this is a waste of time is people on here keep citing Bono this and that last time i checked there were 4members in the group plus managers and lawyers and accountants etc...

Okay, so they're all hypocrites.

Actually, Mellencamp's image is also strongly tied to the working man, so his fans would care.

people that bitch about labels and music and they were the ones that caused the situation by buying cheap cds and not supporting music

So, U2's sheltering their hundreds of millions in the Netherlands because people "(bought) cheap cds"?

For Mellencamp most people dont even know who he is, if this were 1985 then the "general public" would care what he was doing lets be real, Mellencamps base of about 100,000 in america could care less, when he his song was used on a car commercial his fans like me, supported him because he did it that way to get airplay because no radio or video station would play a then 58 year old musician, but instead all it bothered were the "bloggers" who are nothing more than TMZ rejects, and they were the ones that cared on that one, his fans were in his corner.

As for the CD's point im citing that america itself is a country that dives at every chance to get things cheaper, so U2 paying a cheaper tax rate is the same thing as people buying cds from cheap outlets and then crying when real music stores have to close down. same thing, if we could get at a cheaper tax rate we would, just ask the rich of this country who pay nothing in taxes, U2 probably pays more here than citizens of this country do. And while we are it, we should ask many other musicians who have offices overseas for the same reason, or pay no tax at all here, or do things CHEAP to horde millions (example PRINCE's last few tours)

lastdecember said:

Ace said:

So, U2's sheltering their hundreds of millions in the Netherlands because people "(bought) cheap cds"?

For Mellencamp most people dont even know who he is, if this were 1985 then the "general public" would care what he was doing lets be real, Mellencamps base of about 100,000 in america could care less, when he his song was used on a car commercial his fans like me, supported him because he did it that way to get airplay because no radio or video station would play a then 58 year old musician, but instead all it bothered were the "bloggers" who are nothing more than TMZ rejects, and they were the ones that cared on that one, his fans were in his corner.

As for the CD's point im citing that america itself is a country that dives at every chance to get things cheaper, so U2 paying a cheaper tax rate is the same thing as people buying cds from cheap outlets and then crying when real music stores have to close down. same thing, if we could get at a cheaper tax rate we would, just ask the rich of this country who pay nothing in taxes, U2 probably pays more here than citizens of this country do. And while we are it, we should ask many other musicians who have offices overseas for the same reason, or pay no tax at all here, or do things CHEAP to horde millions (example PRINCE's last few tours)

It's the H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y.

Li'l "Bono" is constantly running around, preaching that everyone should do as much as they can to help the less-fortunate, then hustles his hundreds of millions out of Ireland when their tax-break dries up.

I mean, it is fucking hilarious!

Ace said:

lastdecember said:

For Mellencamp most people dont even know who he is, if this were 1985 then the "general public" would care what he was doing lets be real, Mellencamps base of about 100,000 in america could care less, when he his song was used on a car commercial his fans like me, supported him because he did it that way to get airplay because no radio or video station would play a then 58 year old musician, but instead all it bothered were the "bloggers" who are nothing more than TMZ rejects, and they were the ones that cared on that one, his fans were in his corner.

As for the CD's point im citing that america itself is a country that dives at every chance to get things cheaper, so U2 paying a cheaper tax rate is the same thing as people buying cds from cheap outlets and then crying when real music stores have to close down. same thing, if we could get at a cheaper tax rate we would, just ask the rich of this country who pay nothing in taxes, U2 probably pays more here than citizens of this country do. And while we are it, we should ask many other musicians who have offices overseas for the same reason, or pay no tax at all here, or do things CHEAP to horde millions (example PRINCE's last few tours)

It's the H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y.

Li'l "Bono" is constantly running around, preaching that everyone should do as much as they can to help the less-fortunate, then hustles his hundreds of millions out of Ireland when their tax-break dries up.

I mean, it is fucking hilarious!

just in the same as USA for Africa, was kind of a rip off as we found out years later that alot of money was still held by Kenny Rogers Ken Kragen and yes Quincy Jones too, not all the money ....got there.

Dig deep enough and every artist is a HYPOCRIT in some way

[Edited 7/19/11 17:24pm]

I agree with Ace as well. I don't know for a fact that U2 doesn't help its home country in any way, but with Ireland being in the dire straits that it is, you'd think a band so hell-bent on "saving" every other country in the world would look in its own back yard.

[Edited 7/19/11 17:59pm]