RE: Bono, U2 hit sour note in move to cut their tax bill

Lead guitarist David Evans earlier this month defended the move as a sensible decision for a group that makes 90 percent of its money outside Ireland. "Our business is a very complex business," Evans said on Dublin radio station Newstalk, breaking the band's silence after weeks of public criticism. "Of course we're trying to be tax-efficient. Who doesn't want to be tax-efficient?"

Exactly. To really understand the complexities of U2's business dealings, you have to understand the economics of music royalties. The taxing of convoluted international music royalty rates is a topic unto itself. Further, U2 is clearly an international business. U2 business practices are legal, and they are within the realm of what any reasonable and ethical business would decide to do.

Tanya: I like how these people expect others to pay for their pet causes while they just move their money elsewhere. Now THAT'S being hypocritical.

You're confusing the individual members of U2 with the business of U2. The individuals of U2 are still Irish citizens and pay Irish taxes. Each of them makes a lot of money and pays a lot of taxes.

Bono and Company do more than their fair share of contributing to those in need. I would say that they more than pay for their "pet causes." One could argue that the four men of U2, in the massive scale of their philanthropy, have probably saved more lives than four average physicians. Not slighting any physician anywhere, but the efforts made by those four individuals alone have improved lives more than you obviously care to understand.