Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Gets Tax Break Approval for Arizona Sapphire Glass Facility

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,524
30,823



iphone_5_camera_sapphire-250x354.jpg
The Gilbert Public School Board has approved a tax break for Apple, clearing the way for the company to continue on with its plans to build a 700-employee manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, reports AZ Central. The school board is reportedly the last of eight government entities needed to approve the deal, which will see Apple's property reclassified as a foreign trade zone.
The Gilbert Public Schools' governing board on Monday voted 5-0 in favor of allowing a tax break for Apple Inc., meaning the tech giant can continue with its plans to open a manufacturing plant in Mesa.

The fate of the high-profile deal potentially worth hundreds of jobs seemed to hang in the balance, with the school district being the last of eight governing entities needed to approve a property reclassification that would entitle the premier tech company to a tax break.
Click to expand...
First announced in early November, the Arizona facility will be used by Apple partner GT Advanced to produce sapphire glass for Apple.

In addition to providing GT Advanced with a manufacturing plant, Apple will also fund the company with a prepayment of $578 million, allowing GT Advanced to install next-generation high capacity furnaces to manufacture greater quantities of sapphire glass at a lower cost.

Apple currently uses sapphire glass, which is more durable and scratch resistant than other glasses, in small quantities for both the iPhone's rear camera and the Touch ID home button on the iPhone 5s.

Rumors have suggested that sapphire glass could be used for future smartphone displays and it is also possible that Apple will use sapphire glass from GT Advanced for its rumored iWatch. Sapphire glass is already used by high-end watchmaking companies for its extreme durability.

The sapphire glass facility is set to open in Mesa, Arizona in 2014 and according to Apple, will provide more than 2,000 total jobs in engineering, manufacturing, and construction as it is built.

Article Link: Apple Gets Tax Break Approval for Arizona Sapphire Glass Facility
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/19/apple-gets-tax-break-approval-for-arizona-sapphire-glass-facility/
Aluminum213

Aluminum213

macrumors 68040
Mar 16, 2012
3,597
4,707
Apple needs a tax break, BADLY



Because billion dollar corporations are people too!!!!
 
Klae17

Klae17

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2011
1,227
1,578
In before the pro-IRS crowd complains about big companies getting tax breaks. If you create hundreds of jobs in my state I would gladly vote on it!
 
J

JDee

macrumors 6502a
Aug 31, 2008
535
11
Ireland
This is just stupid.

I'm all for private companies making profits and such - but why do Apple really need tax breaks when they have over $100 billion in the bank?

It's especially the case with the income and distribution of wealth. Apple looks for tax breaks yet those working in the lowest wage (probably doing the most work than some top paid execs) paying departments producing Apple products in factories can barely afford to live.

Apple should be producing everything in the United States - and it's the United States governments fault for not acting quick enough when these technology companies started shifting production to Asia and beyond. It's not political, it's moral and ethics we're talking here and it's the fault of whose at the top of both Apple and the US government.
 
nwcs

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
5,262
Tennessee
No big deal. This is how politics and business works. Personally, I think all TIF agreements are bad but I won't fault apple for taking them. Amazon got a huge one in my state that is even bigger.
 
S

sportsfan

macrumors regular
Nov 13, 2009
211
68
The way communities whore them selves like this....
So what corporations basically say is that they want to use all the local infrastructure and not have to pay for it....so everyone else's taxes go up to compensate.
Sure, they bring in some jobs....so what. All communities should just say no. What will happen, corps not build new plants?
 
R

RedOrchestra

Suspended
Aug 13, 2012
2,623
3,237
It's unbelievable how far over states and cities bend to attract investment. So many times the tax forgiven is greater than the tax benefit of employed workers.

Companies like Apple, play them like fiddles.
 
M

maknik

macrumors regular
May 17, 2006
173
53
Thank goodness Apple doesn't have to pay money into the school district of its workers! Clearly it would have been Apple's duty to relocate if such onerous responsibilities were imposed.

This totally vitiates the value of "Made in America". What's the worth of that claim if many of the domestic benefits are exempted because they can declare it a foreign trade zone? What's next -- refusing to repatriate the profits from that plant unless all US taxes are exempted, as Apple insists for its other foreign divisions?
 
S

sportsfan

macrumors regular
Nov 13, 2009
211
68
RedOrchestra said:
It's unbelievable how far over states and cities bend to attract investment. So many times the tax forgiven is greater than the tax benefit of employed workers.

Companies like Apple, play them like fiddles.
Click to expand...

Exactly, then when that TIF expires, the company asks for another. If said community says no, corp moves to some other city that says "yes" and leaves an abandoned building that the prior city then needs to deal with.
All cities should just say no. With the way it is now, it's just another transfer of wealth behind the scenes.
 
K

kenroberts83

macrumors regular
Apr 2, 2012
159
0
sportsfan said:
The way communities whore them selves like this....
So what corporations basically say is that they want to use all the local infrastructure and not have to pay for it....so everyone else's taxes go up to compensate.
Sure, they bring in some jobs....so what. All communities should just say no. What will happen, corps not build new plants?
Click to expand...

Those 700 permanent jobs will all be taxed... permanently. The temporary 2,000 will be taxed as well. All of those people are buying things locally (sales tax), renting or buying properties (property tax), etc. Then everyone that services those workers will see business increase as well, thus more taxes and wages.

This will be a net benefit for the community, and is worth it. We've got to start trying to compete with the China's of the world, guys.
 
snipper

snipper

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2004
233
30
Klae17 said:
In before the pro-IRS crowd complains about big companies getting tax breaks. If you create hundreds of jobs in my state I would gladly vote on it!
Click to expand...

Would Apple break it off, if they didn't get the tax break? Probably not, because if anyone can afford it, it's them. Without blinking an eye.

Of course jobs are welcome, of course Apple created jobs, but this feels wrong; Small companies don't get tax breaks, they pay in full, but the Ikea's, Shell's and Apple's of the world can bend the rules. In Europe and apparently in the US too.
 
W

wigby

macrumors 68030
Jun 7, 2007
2,751
2,716
JDee said:
This is just stupid.

I'm all for private companies making profits and such - but why do Apple really need tax breaks when they have over $100 billion in the bank?

It's especially the case with the income and distribution of wealth. Apple looks for tax breaks yet those working in the lowest wage (probably doing the most work than some top paid execs) paying departments producing Apple products in factories can barely afford to live.

Apple should be producing everything in the United States - and it's the United States governments fault for not acting quick enough when these technology companies started shifting production to Asia and beyond. It's not political, it's moral and ethics we're talking here and it's the fault of whose at the top of both Apple and the US government.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? How do you think they got $100 billion in the bank? By not wasting it in the U.S. on overpriced labor and pointless taxes.

Now when they have a chance to create some jobs in the U.S. because of a tax break, you slam them for not manufacturing everything in the U.S.

The government has to offer tax breaks to Apple before they bring back some jobs here. It doesn't work the other way around.
 
N

numlock

macrumors 68000
Mar 13, 2006
1,590
88
kenroberts83 said:
Those 700 permanent jobs will all be taxed... permanently. The temporary 2,000 will be taxed as well. All of those people are buying things locally (sales tax), renting or buying properties (property tax), etc. Then everyone that services those workers will see business increase as well, thus more taxes and wages.

This will be a net benefit for the community, and is worth it. We've got to start trying to compete with the China's of the world, guys.
Click to expand...

this whole ideology depends on the working man paying his share of the taxes (ie the only one).

how sweet it is to be a wage slave.

the irony is of course to hear these companies later speak out on the lack of educated people after getting years or decades of tax breaks
 
S

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2003
3,643
4,443
The Amalgamated States of Central North America
Unpatriotic. We celebrate veterans' day because of the work veterans do in the national interest. But there are many ways of working for the national interest. For some reason, we don't think of paying our taxes as in our nation's interest.

Apple is also avoiding paying social security tax for thousands of people in the US who are working jobs indistinguishable from its employees but who are classified as contractors for tax purposes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom