{"id":48332,"date":"2017-10-23T12:12:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T12:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=48332"},"modified":"2017-10-23T12:12:57","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T12:12:57","slug":"billions-in-tax-breaks-offered-to-amazon-for-second-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/business\/billions-in-tax-breaks-offered-to-amazon-for-second-headquarters.html","title":{"rendered":"Billions in tax breaks offered to Amazon for second headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billions in tax breaks offered to Amazon for second headquarters<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Billions in tax breaks offered to Amazon for second headquarters: Elected officials are eager for the $5 billion-plus investment by Amazon and up to 50,000 new jobs that will come with \u201cHQ2.\u201d For its second campus, Amazon wants a metropolitan area of more than a million people with good education, mass transit and likely lower costs than its home base in Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon has said it will announce a decision next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no better place to do business than Canada,\u201d Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an Oct. 13 letter to Amazon\u2019s Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, seen by Reuters.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Jersey proposed $7 billion in potential credits against state and city taxes if Amazon locates in Newark and sticks to hiring commitments, according to a news release from the governor\u2019s office earlier this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

A report from the California governor\u2019s office seen by Reuters said Amazon could claim some $300 million, and a bill in the state\u2019s assembly introduced Thursday could offer Amazon $1 billion in tax breaks over the next decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

And in a far different proposal, the mayor of the Atlanta suburb of Stonecrest, Jason Lary, said his city would use 345 acres of industrial land to create a new city called Amazon. Bezos would be its mayor for life, Lary said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s need to compete for tech talent with Silicon Valley companies such as Google (GOOGL.O) likely places the HQ2 prize out of reach for some smaller cities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moody\u2019s Analytics Inc has ranked Austin, the headquarters of Amazon\u2019s subsidiary Whole Foods, as the favorite.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cities I talked (to) all know they are being taken and resent it,\u201d said urban studies expert Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto\u2019s Martin Prosperity Institute. However, cities expect some indirect benefits from the contest, such as closer ties to state and regional officials, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

HARSH WORDS<\/span><\/p>\n

Since its beginnings as an online bookseller in 1994, Amazon has had a savvy approach to taxes, collecting no sales tax for many purchases until recent years, and now pitting governments against each other to win tax breaks.<\/span><\/p>\n

In some cases, the contest has gotten heated.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Hampshire warned Amazon not to choose nearby Boston, saying in a report posted online: \u201cWhen you leave your tiny $4,000-a-month apartment only to sit in two hours of traffic trying to make your way to an overburdened airport, you\u2019ll be wishing you were in New Hampshire.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Milwaukee\u2019s bid touted its proximity to Chicago, a nearby competitor, arguing that Amazon could tap that city\u2019s workforce and amenities while avoiding its congestion and high costs of living.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe consider Chicago one of our finest suburbs,\u201d said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many governments have declined to discuss the tax packages they are offering for fear of tipping off rivals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bid by Austin is confidential, a chamber of commerce official told Reuters. Missouri\u2019s economic development department said the state had a non-disclosure agreement with Amazon.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Louis, Missouri received the most Twitter mentions related to HQ2 over the last two weeks – more than 1,300 – according to social media monitoring company Brandwatch. Boston and Chicago were next.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other candidates have simply taken the opportunity to market themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201dHey Amazon, we need to talk,\u201c ran an ad for Little Rock, Arkansas in the Bezos-owned Washington Post on Thursday. \u201dWe\u2019re happy knowing that many great companies find our natural good looks coupled with our brains for business irresistible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll find what you\u2019re looking for. But it\u2019s just not us,\u201d the ad read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-amazon-com-headquarters\/billions-in-tax-breaks-offered-to-amazon-for-second-headquarters-idUSKBN1CO1IP<\/span><\/p>\n

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