The Edge On Edge About Tax Evasion Accusations

The letter, which was written by a Baltimore Sun reader named Simon Moroney, was certainly not the first time the band has been criticized for how they handle their taxes.

U2 moved part of its business from Ireland to Holland in 2006 to take advantage of the country’s tax policy, where there is “no direct tax on royalties,” according to the Irish Independent. The band made the move after the Irish Government began taxing artists on earnings over 250,000 euros. Artists’ earnings were previously tax exempt.

Moroney’s July 7 letter to the editor criticized Bono’s involvement with his ONE campaign, noting that it was hypocritical for the singer to ask world leaders to donate more funds to those in need when he wasn’t paying royalty taxes in Ireland.

“Ireland is now bankrupt, and there have been calls from some government ministers for Bono to pay his taxes so the country can keep hospitals and schools open,” he wrote. “Those appeals have fallen on deaf ears, despite the fact that Bono and U2 have extensively traded on being Irish to engender fan loyalty.”

Moroney wasn’t impressed with Bono’s charity work, writing that his causes “all serve the purpose of either promoting U2 or giving Bono access to power at the nexus of celebrity and politics.”

The Edge began his response, dated July 12, by writing that his letter would focus on Moroney’s “totally false and possibly libelous” accusation that U2 and Bono have committed tax evasion. The guitarist explained that Moroney’s letter had so many inaccuracies that it was “pointless to attempt to correct them all.”

“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,” he wrote.

To get his point across The Edge even included a quote from Owen Durgan of the Irish Ministry of Finance.

“People complained at the time,” Durgan said. “But we have companies moving here from the rest of the EU, so it all evens out. We wouldn’t make an issue of it.”

The Edge added that as a federal worker Moroney might like to know that U2 has paid “many, many millions of dollars” to the United States Internal Revenue Service over the years. Oh, and for the record, “Ireland is, thankfully, not bankrupt.”

On Tuesday the Baltimore Sun posted a follow-up letter to the editor on its website from Moroney in which he clarified a controversial phrase.

“My intention is not to accuse either U2 or individual band members of criminal tax evasion. My clarification and correction is that I am saying that they aligned their business interests with avoiding paying taxes, not criminal evasion. I apologize for any confusion my letter may have caused.”
   
Click here to read The Edge’s letter to the Baltimore Sun.

Click here for Simon Moroney’s original letter.