Promises Of Charity Won Tax Breaks for San Francisco Tech Companies
Source: BuzzFeed
Twitter and six other San Francisco tech companies are set to receive sizable tax breaks from the city in exchange for non-binding promises to make charitable contributions totaling, in many cases, just tens of thousands of dollars — along with promoted tweets for local groups.
The tax deal also includes promises to volunteer in the community and patronize local businesses, according to draft Community Benefits Agreements that could be signed and finalized by the city as early as tomorrow.
The CBA drafts, examined by BuzzFeed after they were quietly posted to the city's website, have long been a source of controversy in San Francisco and elsewhere around the country. Aimed at spurring economic revitalization, they've also wound up, critics say, as handouts to companies that would be in San Francisco anyway, a city facing a budget crisis and a sense that rising rents are driving some locals out.
... Besides Twitter, the companies include Microsoft subsidiary Yammer, a business-to-business social networking company; Zoosk, a Facebook for people in love to "share their romantic journeys"; One Kings Lane, an online home décor retailer; ZenDesk, a cloud-based customer service software developer; and 21Tech, which provides IT support and consultation for state and federal governments.
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/how-tech-companies-bought-big-tax-breaks-with-prom-8887
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