The Stage

Taxmen target outdoor concerts

Published Friday 25 June 2004 at 11:20 by Anthony Garvey

Major outdoor concerts in the Irish Republic this summer are attracting some unexpected visitors - tax officials - and their interest in the events is financial, not musical.

A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners confirmed that they are carrying out a fact-finding operation on the level of tax compliance in the concert business, which is worth many millions of euros. As part of the operation, officials are not only assessing the income generated by fast food and drink sellers, they are also examining the financial contracts between bands and concert promoters, as well as the money made by vendors of t-shirts and other paraphernalia.

Some 40 tax officials were on duty at a recent Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Dublin’s Phoenix Park and similar operations are expected for the Oxegen Music Festival in Punchestown next month, headlined by David Bowie, as well as the Madonna gig at Slane Castle in August. The aim of the exercises, according to the Revenue spokesman, is to determine whether regulations on PAYE and VAT are being complied with.

Concerts are big business. The Chili Peppers’ gig, for instance, attracted a crowd of 110,000. With the admission charge set at 59.50 euros each, ticket sales alone generated more than 6 million euros. However, there is no suggestion that the taxmen discovered anything untoward in relation to the event or harboured any such suspicion.

A spokesman for the promoter, MCD, said that while he could not comment on the exact operations of Revenue staff, the company had been happy to cooperate.

Meanwhile 56,000 tickets, at 88.50 euros each, have been sold in just five hours for the Madonna concert at Slane on August 29 - it is her first performance in Ireland. The sales, totalling more than 5 million euros, set a box office record for the year so far, with thousands of fans queueing overnight for tickets.

According to MCD, restrictions on block bookings were introduced to prevent tickets going to touts. Madonna will be the first female singer to top the bill at Slane. Her fee for the concert is reported to be 2 million euros.