Twitter given tax break to stay put in San Francisco

San Francisco politicians have approved a tax break to keep Twitter from fleeing the city.

The measure was passed 8-3 by the Board of Supervisors and exempts the microblogging service from paying payroll tax on new hires if it moves to the city’s neglected Mid-Market area.

The exemption applies to any business in the blighted neighbourhood, but city officials call Twitter the big fish that could spur economic growth.

Twitter is already outgrowing its current San Francisco headquarters, and the company is poised to expand from a few hundred to a few thousand workers.

Mayor Ed Lee announced last month that Twitter would sign a six-year lease in the neighbourhood pending the tax break. Critics have called the plan an ill-conceived corporate give-away.