One love, One offshore bank account

Why would someone want to change his name, unless
he wanted  to become a larger-than-life twat?

This is a story about Paul Hewson swanning around
about "saving" the starving when his charity has been
"conning" people into paying his One bills, instead of
helping the poor.
Beyond that, he sees fit to cheat his home country,
Ireland of its fair share of his personal profits, while it suffers
from austerity. And when questioned, he has the
guts to lie about the "nature of Ireland".

One Love
One Charity
One Percent to the needy
That's all. 1% of the money Bono, that the Arch-Tax-evading Angel
has used his face and ass to rake in, actually goes where it's
supposed to.

Shameless, Bloody Shameless

[below at 8:35]



checkit: Tax research
U2's Bono defends economic illiteracy
Britain's Observer newspaper is carrying an interview with U2's frontman Bono, containing these pearls of wisdom:
"Q: The other persistent criticism is about the band's decision to offshore part of their income through the Netherlands to avoid tax. Was it not hypocrisy for you to try to hold the Irish government to account for its spending while going through fairly exhaustive efforts to avoid paying into the Irish exchequer yourself?Bono: It is not an intellectually rigorous position unless you understand that at the heart of the Irish economy has always been the philosophy of tax competitiveness. Tax competitiveness has taken our country out of poverty. 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."
Let's get two things straight, Paul Hewson (for that is your real name.)
First. Repeat after us. Tax 'competition' bears absolutely no relation whatsoever to competition between firms in a market. The word 'competitive' is a complete misnomer. Endless misguided government tax policies have hidden behind this weasel word - perhaps the worst of all weasel words in the entire tax lexicon. And as for the 'Celtic Tiger' - it would not have been possible without huge (tax-financed) subsidies from the European Union, and now that the Irish bubble has burst, that whole model isn't looking so clever now.
Second. Tax competition is always, irredeemably noxious and harmful. What is there to be proud of?
If you don't believe us, read this. See if you can knock any of those arguments down.
As the entertainer Graham Norton so memorably put it, in response to news of U2's tax dodging strategy:
"Tarmac the road outside your house, tightwad!"
2
Contact music
Norton Hits Out At Bono's Tax Dodge
by WENN | 18 September 2006
Graham Norton
Picture: Graham Norton Figures of Speech Fundraising Gala at the Royal Horticultural Hall London, England - 27.02.08
Irish comedian GRAHAM NORTON has criticised U2 frontman BONO for avoiding paying tax in Ireland.
Norton is furious the band moved its business empire from Ireland to The Netherlands to avoid paying Irish taxes on royalties and accuses Bono of focusing on international charities while neglecting his responsibility to his native Ireland.
And the TV star, who is worth GBP25 million ($47 million), insists he will confront Bono on the issue.
Norton says, "People like Bono really annoy me. He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes. And then he's asking me to buy a well for an African village.
"Tarmac the road outside your house, you tight-wad! Or pay for a school in Ireland.
"I've never met Bono and now I probably never will. But if I do meet him I'll ask him because I think it's a really hard thing to justify.
"I pay a lot of tax. By most people's standards I am rich so I should pay my tax because I can afford it. When I didn't want to pay it was when I didn't have any money."