The Rolling Stones & Taxes

Published on June 3rd, 2015 | by Devon Mirsky

In 1972 the Rolling Stones released their album Exile on Main Street. Why did it have this title? Because the band were actual exiles; tax exiles as it’s known as in this kind of case.

In the mid 1960s, the tax rate for the wealthier citizens in England was 83% and with that there was also a 15% ”super tax” which bumped the rate up to 98%!

In the film, Stones in Exile, former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman put it, “Tax, under the Labour government of Wilson was 93% if you earned a million quid, which we didn’t, you’d end up with 70 grand. So it was impossible to earn enough money to pay back the Inland Revenue and stay here, in England.”

Mick Jagger added that, “I had to get out of the country to pay the tax incurred for me. That’s why I had to leave.”

Since that time, they have used banks in Holland and the Caribbean, which lowers their tax liabilities, and haven’t been able to have their main residency be Britain ever since; meaning they are still tax exiles!

With a candidate like Bernie Sanders being okay with a 90% rate, you know he hasn’t done his homework. The Rolling Stones are not the first, nor are they the only ones, who have left countries to find cheaper tax havens. Can’t pay for social programs when there are no more rich in your country to steal from!

What’s the moral of the story? When you tax people too much they will leave and then the country gets very little to zero.

Tags: 1960s, 60s, band, bernie sanders, bill wyman, Britain, British, caribbean, charlie watts, debt, devon mirsky, england, exile, exiled, exiles, holland, jagger, keef, keith richards, labour, mick jagger, money, Music, revenue, rock, rock n roll, rock stars, roll, rolling, rolling stones, stones, tax, taxed, taxes, taxing, taxman, the rolling stones, UK