Bono and his bandmates were criticized in 2007 for avoiding taxes in their native country. As reported in the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper, U2 moved part of their multi-million euro song catalogue from Ireland to a tax shelter in Amsterdam six months before Ireland ended a tax exemption on musicians' royalties.[16] Until then U2 benefited from the artists' tax exemption introduced by the late Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Future income will fall under Dutch tax law, which charges bands like U2 very low to nonexistent tax rates.[16] By moving its major assets to Amsterdam, U2 no longer pays tax on income from their artistic ventures as residents in Ireland.[36] U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, stated that the arrangement is legal and customary and businesses often seek to minimize their tax burdens.[16] The move prompted criticisms in the Oireachtas (Irish parliament).[36][37]
It has been suggested that this tax avoidance is inconsistent with Bono's public stance against poverty. Bono has pressured the Irish government to increase the proportion of Ireland's GNP allocated to overseas aid. He made this request not only in an open letter [10] but also more ostentatiously on stage at a concert in Croke Park at which the Taoiseach of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, was present [11]. The latter public gesture resulted in the Ahern being booed by the crowd. Richard Murphy, a researcher into the links between tax havens and poverty, has described Bono's actions as "moral bankruptcy".[12]