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But they probably did. It was just behind closed doors rather than publicized.

Wowfunhappy 8y ago
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure any such tax breaks would have to be public data by now, even if they were originally hashed out behind closed doors. If you're implying that Google got tax breaks, and no one noticed the public data confirming these tax breaks, please provide evidence of the data that has been overlooked.
- heyjudy 8y ago
  Ass and umption.
- SolarNet 8y ago
  > would have to be public data by now Show me the public data source where I could conceivably find that out and I'll do "please provide evidence of the data that has been overlooked". Because I don't think that data source exists. I don't think you realize how opaque tax records are in many places. You seem to be implying that there is a way for the public - or even journalists - to acquire the tax and assessment information of individual companies. Attempting to do so is considered fraud in most jurisdictions (e.g. attempting to use a FOIA request for the personal information - including tax records - of someone else or a business of which you are not an officer).
  - hopler 8y ago
    Property taxes are generally searchable online. Redfin will tell you residential real estate taxes for a property, for example.
    - SolarNet 8y ago
      The assessed property tax values of the property. What does that have to do with the actual amount paid? Tax breaks for an entity don't apply to the assessed value of property owned by them...
      - vonmoltke 8y ago
        Every taxing district I have looked up property in shows the actual amount billed. They always show all applicable credits the property or its owner qualify for. I haven't tried to look up NYS records, but I don't think it's any different.
        SolarNet 8y ago
        But again, what portion of the taxes in question are actually property taxes. I pay lots of business taxes and my business owns no property. You are saying if I bought a piece of property and paid property taxes on it, that all of my business taxes would suddenly show up in the property tax records?
- r_smart 8y ago
  It's basically standard practice for any business to negotiate tax breaks for building in one place rather than another. I'm not going to spend any real amount of time tracking down theoretically publicly available documents on these deals. Sure the records exist, but I have no knowledge of a database I can search, and I'm not putting in a FOIA request. Here's an article discussing the topic at large[0] (and Google is one of the beneficiaries here). [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/02/us-cities-and-states-give-big-tech-93bn-in-subsidies-in-five-years-tax-breaks https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/02/us-cities-and...
  - JohnFen 8y ago
    > It's basically standard practice for any business to negotiate tax breaks for building in one place rather than another. Yes, this is common. But just because it's common doesn't mean it's right or should be allowed.
    - r_smart 8y ago
      Please point to where I said anything about right or allowed.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure any such tax breaks would have to be public data by now, even if they were originally hashed out behind closed doors. If you're implying that Google got tax breaks, and no one noticed the public data confirming these tax breaks, please provide evidence of the data that has been overlooked.

heyjudy 8y ago
Ass and umption.
SolarNet 8y ago
> would have to be public data by now Show me the public data source where I could conceivably find that out and I'll do "please provide evidence of the data that has been overlooked". Because I don't think that data source exists. I don't think you realize how opaque tax records are in many places. You seem to be implying that there is a way for the public - or even journalists - to acquire the tax and assessment information of individual companies. Attempting to do so is considered fraud in most jurisdictions (e.g. attempting to use a FOIA request for the personal information - including tax records - of someone else or a business of which you are not an officer).
- hopler 8y ago
  Property taxes are generally searchable online. Redfin will tell you residential real estate taxes for a property, for example.
  - SolarNet 8y ago
    The assessed property tax values of the property. What does that have to do with the actual amount paid? Tax breaks for an entity don't apply to the assessed value of property owned by them...
    - vonmoltke 8y ago
      Every taxing district I have looked up property in shows the actual amount billed. They always show all applicable credits the property or its owner qualify for. I haven't tried to look up NYS records, but I don't think it's any different.
      - SolarNet 8y ago
        But again, what portion of the taxes in question are actually property taxes. I pay lots of business taxes and my business owns no property. You are saying if I bought a piece of property and paid property taxes on it, that all of my business taxes would suddenly show up in the property tax records?
r_smart 8y ago
It's basically standard practice for any business to negotiate tax breaks for building in one place rather than another. I'm not going to spend any real amount of time tracking down theoretically publicly available documents on these deals. Sure the records exist, but I have no knowledge of a database I can search, and I'm not putting in a FOIA request. Here's an article discussing the topic at large[0] (and Google is one of the beneficiaries here). [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/02/us-cities-and-states-give-big-tech-93bn-in-subsidies-in-five-years-tax-breaks https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/02/us-cities-and...
- JohnFen 8y ago
  > It's basically standard practice for any business to negotiate tax breaks for building in one place rather than another. Yes, this is common. But just because it's common doesn't mean it's right or should be allowed.
  - r_smart 8y ago
    Please point to where I said anything about right or allowed.