There is, however, a clause that says once you earn $315,000, the tax is capped and you must start paying tax for any additional income after that. Once this cap was set in place, U2 moved the financials of their business to The Netherlands to avoid a multi-million dollar tax bill. Not only would they be taxed on royalties, but they would also be taxed on the sales of their new album.
The controversy in this decision is that now Bono hopes that First World countries will increase their aid in order to improve poverty stricken areas. Ireland, a First World country, will now have fewer funds because the taxes that they would have received from artists like U2 are now going to benefit The Netherlands. With Ireland in a recession, this could not have come at a worse time.
