Twitter Wants Big Tax Breaks

The city of San Francisco is reportedly considering offering Twitter massive tax breaks to keep the growing social media company from moving outside the city to nearby Brisbane.

The company, founded in 2006 in the City by the Bay, has reportedly demanded an eight-year local tax break. The city’s board of supervisors is instead proposing to freeze payroll tax increases for six years for growing businesses like Twitter located on parts of Market Street and the Tenderloin district.

Businesses that have payrolls above $250,000 currently pay a 1.5 percent tax. Any new businesses that started within the development zone would not have to pay payroll taxes under the proposed legislation.

Twitter has been expanding dramatically in recent years, reportedly tripling its workforce in just one year to 350 employees, according to the San Francisco Examiner. The company plans to expand to thousands of employees in the next few years, fueled by the growing popularity of social networks.

Twitter would not have to pay payroll taxes for new employees for the next six years under the proposal. A committee hearing on the proposal is not expected for at least a month, hiwever. Meanwhile, the city of Brisbane does not impose any payroll taxes.

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