Tax doesn't make that much of a difference in these decisions. The Google business unit which generates big revenues (and pays most of Google's taxes in Europe)

Tax doesn't make that much of a difference in these decisions. The Google business unit which generates big revenues (and pays most of Google's taxes in Europe) is the holding company in Ireland, which later pays an R&D/marketing/support/other fee to the local OpCo's where most engineers/sales reps are based, the so called 'Transfer Pricing'. That is why Google's regional offices are P&L break-even and hardly pay any corporate tax in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, etc. Refer to: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_44/b4201043146825.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_44/b42010431... and http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/google-2-4-rate-shows-how-60-billion-u-s-revenue-lost-to-tax-loopholes.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-21/google-2-4-rate-sho... and http://www.businessweek.com/technology/google-tax-cut/google-terminal.html http://www.businessweek.com/technology/google-tax-cut/google...