Wednesday, April 06, 2011

If You Subsidize Something, You Get More of It

SAN FRANCISCO  — "The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a tax break to keep Twitter from fleeing the city. The measure passed 8-3 and exempts the micro-blogging service from paying payroll tax on new hires if it moves to the city’s neglected Mid-Market area.

Twitter is already outgrowing its current San Francisco headquarters in the city’s South of Market neighborhood, and the company is poised to expand from a few hundred to a few-thousand workers. While seeking a building with more office space, the company had said it had considered moving down the Peninsula to a city that has no payroll tax.

San Francisco is the only city in the state that charges companies a payroll tax; 1.5 percent of total employee compensation each year if the firm has more than $250,000 in payroll. The tax also applies to money made on stock options, a prime consideration for Twitter which is rumored to be exploring an initial public offering."

HT: Kyle Stingily

3 Comments:

At 4/06/2011 5:51 PM, Blogger juandos said...

Courtesy of the Cato Foundation: Subsidizing Federal Subsidies Generates More Federal Subsidies

 
At 4/06/2011 7:38 PM, Blogger Jeff said...

If you want more of something, subsidize it.

If you want less, tax it.

If you're Washington, do both.

 
At 4/07/2011 9:26 AM, Blogger morganovich said...

jeff-

as reagan said (of the bad governmental attitude):

if it moves, tax it.

if it keeps moving, regulate it.

if it stops moving, subsidize it.

the whole thing is a self fulfilling prophesy.

 

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