Why didn't I think of that? I just hate it when my kids squabble.
Posted on 08/11/2006 4:11:58 AM PDT by dennisw
The Rolling Stones paid just 1.6 per cent in tax on earnings of $US152 million ($A200 million) last year, thanks to slick management of their fortunes.
Details have leaked out because the Stones' finances are managed by a Dutch company; they are making their wills and Dutch law requires certain information to be made public.
Germany's Die Welt newspaper reported on the tax break that Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards and drummer Charlie Watts enjoyed through the use of offshore trusts and companies.
According to the newspaper, the trio went to a Dutch finance house in 1972 to have their millions managed from Amsterdam because they didn't trust British finance houses. Now they are making wills to ensure that beneficiaries don't end up squabbling.
Details of the tax break were revealed in the country's trade registry, according to Die Welt.
A Dutch holding company called Promogroup is the umbrella organisation that has been managing the finances of the three original Stones for the past 35 years.
Ron Wood's assets are not managed by the Dutch group. With just £70 million ($A171 million) in the bank, he is the poor relation to the others in the band.
The Stones' Dutch advisers use branch offices in the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean to reduce tax liabilities. The registry also pinpoints a European blueblood as the Stones' finance manager, a German-Austrian prince who the band reportedly refer to as Ruppie the Groupie.
Promogroup runs 10 subsidiary companies and has roots stretching back to the 17th century when rich merchants rather than rockers were its clients.
Sabine Schuttgens, a lawyer involved in setting up the Stones' trusts, said: "The foundations are to make sure that after the death of the rock stars there would be no arguments among their heirs."
...the journalizm of envy....
So the story is the tax shelter, not the 90% British income tax that drove them there. How ironic.
01/08/06 - TV & showbiz section
by KATIE HIND, Daily Mail
The Rolling Stones have paid just 1.6 per cent tax on their earnings of £242million over the past 20 years, it has emerged.
Documents published in Holland show that Sir Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards used offshore trusts and companies to ensure tax breaks.
Of the fortune they have accumulated since 1986 for royalties, they have paid just £3.9 million in taxes.
The revelation emerged after the three set up a will to ensure that their beneficiaries do not end up squabbling over their money when they die.
The band appear to have been spurred into action after Richards had brain surgery following a fall from a coconut tree this year. Sabine Schuttgens, a lawyer who is involved in setting up the Stones' trusts, said: "The foundations are to make sure that after the death of the rock stars, there would be no argument among their heirs."
News of their money management emerged when 63-year-old vocalist Sir Mick, drummer Watts, 65, and 62-year-old guitarist Richards decided to hand over their estates to two foundations in Holland.
Their fortunes have been secretly invested in the country for the past 35 years. The trusts will control the rights to the Stones' music, performances, merchandise and films. Under Dutch law, certain information must be made public - allowingdetails of their extraordinary tax break to emerge.
The band started banking in Holland in 1972 because, reportedly they did not trust British finance houses.
Under Dutch law, there is no direct tax on royalties. They have been tax exiles ever since - meaning they cannot make Britain their main home.
Their holding company, Promogroup, has offices in both Holland and the Caribbean, allowing them to reduce tax liabilities.
As a latecomer to the band, Ronnie Wood, 59, - who joined in 1975 - does not qualify to his assets managed by the same group as the others.
Watts is said to be worth £ 80million, and as main songwriters, Richards is worth £185million while Sir Mick's fortune is as much as £205million.
There is no record of Bill Wyman, 69, who left the band in 1992, in the registration for the trust.
U2 were obviously so impressed by the Stones's fiscal arrangements that the Irish rock band now share the group's Dutch financial director, Jan Favie.
The Stones were formed in 1962 and their debut single, Come On, arrived in the charts a year later.
Although they regularly bring out new albums, they have made most of their money from touring. Their present tour, A Bigger Bang, which was in Amsterdam on Monday night and will arrive in Britain later this month, is predicted to have an estimated turnover of £80million.
There were fears it would not go ahead after Richards injured himself while on holiday in Fiji in April. The guitarist had to have extensive brain surgery after developing a blood clot.
Sir Mick, Watts and Richards disappointed thousands of fans by postponing the first 15 dates of the European leg of the tour.
But Richards recovered quickly allowing the band to perform at the San Siro stadium in Italy.
Why didn't I think of that? I just hate it when my kids squabble.
sound like a bunch of “Sweet Neocon”'s
I love their music always have and will....but they are a bunch of hypocrites.
Gimme Shelter..Its Just A Shot Away......
Apparently, Mick and the rest of the old geezers are getting some Satisfaction.
isnt it amazing, you have BONO on the TV telling governments where to spend tax money while he buggers off to pay nothing...a classic...
One would think that anyone smart enough to accumulate that much money is also smart enough to protect it. (read: every DC politician.)
I'm for tax cuts for the richest-of-the-rich to the poorest-of-the-poor, but there is just something that doesn't sit well when liberals entertainers preach one thing, and turn around and do something else. I think people are fed up with the hypocrisy and stupidity of liberalism. Maybe these people will think of this hypocrisy next time they sing "Sweet neo-cons."
Jagger has a house on Mustique in the Caribbean, and it's for rent. Try to find it on the Mustique Company web site (they don't tell you which one it is). You have to be approved by Jagger to rent it, so make sure you have the requisite cool before applying.
Strangely, I was poking around on that site or a similar one some time ago, and up came a web page with a footer that read "The Jagger Group", leading me to believe that Jagger has an interest (maybe a big one) in the real estate company. But I've never been able to find it again.
Bono/U2 are far bigger offenders. The Stones have never claimed to have a social conscience. But here you have Bono/U2 being so impressed with the Rolling Stones tax avoidance, they signed up with the same Dutch money managers
"U2 were obviously so impressed by the Stones's fiscal arrangements that the Irish rock band now share the group's Dutch financial director, Jan Favie."
Yep, also I think due to British tax laws the band was basically broke in the late 60's, even with all the hits they had, but I thought moved their operations to Monaco
DOUGH!
As Aerosmith said, "Dream On." Most squabbles aren't about money, they're about egos and who's getting how much of the pie, regardless of the size. Mick is father to children besides the ones commonly referred to as his own by Bianca and Jerry Hall, and if they don't get what the above-board Jagger progeny do when he dies onstage at 100, there will be no shortage of challenges.
You may know that one of Jagger's children outside marriage is with one of The Stones black backup singers from the 1960s. Mick took care of the kid's college etc. ---->>>
WIKIPEDIA:
Mick Jagger's first child was born when he was 27. The mother, fellow singer Marsha Hunt, gave birth to daughter Karis Jagger on November 4, 1970. The couple were not married and did not remain together for long after the birth as Jagger became acquainted with activist Bianca Moreno de Macias.
Yeah and definitely with all those (seven) children from different mothers, Ol Mick should get his estate in order. To "prevent squabbles" as the article says
As opposed to The Jaggerz, Donnie Iris's old group.
I know, "Who's Donnie Iris?," right? (In a recent music thread, someone actually honestly asked who Peter Frampton was!) Like Mick, he's an old soldier of rock and roll (just over four months older than Mick), and isn't about to quit anytime soon. But unlike Mick, Donnie has a day job.
I'm sure he's just saving up his money to pay off African debt.
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