Apple Expressing Frustration as Tax Incentives for Austin Expansion Remain in Limbo

Last month, the State of Texas announced that Apple would be making a major expansion of its existing customer support and administrative campus in Austin, investing over $300 million to add 3,600 workers at the site. The move would more than double Apple's workforce in Austin.

apple campus austin
Over the past several weeks, a number of governmental agencies, including the State of Texas, Travis County, and the City of Austin have been working on tax break packages designed to secure Apple's commitment to bring the new jobs to Austin. While most of the incentive packages have been approved, the Austin American-Statesman reports that delays in work by Travis County are leaving Apple "frustrated" and the deal "in peril".

Dave Porter, senior vice president for economic development at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday that Apple's plans to bring its Americas operations center to Austin are up in the air because of the county's continuing deliberations and calls for new conditions on its incentives deal with the company.

"This deal is not done. It remains in peril. And Apple is frustrated," Porter said.

Travis County had been expected to offer tax breaks of $5.4-6.4 million as part of the overall incentive package of $35-36 million over 10-15 years, and while Travis County had given initial approval to its portion of the deal earlier this month, it has yet to be finalized.

The delays are related to objections raised by the opponents of the deal, who have claimed that the terms of the deal are too favorable for Apple and could see the company avoid penalties should it fail to meet some of the contract's terms.

Apple had been said to also be considering Phoenix, Arizona as a potential location for its new facilities, and while it seems likely that the company would much prefer to locate the new facility at its existing campus in Austin, it is likely continuing to weigh its options until a final deal for the Austin site is signed.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

spiney Avatar
172 months ago
Why give tax breaks to the most profitable corporations in the world? The local authorities have to provide infrastructure, etc., and get no revenue?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
polbit Avatar
172 months ago
Yes, let's give Apple tax breaks, they really need them.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goodcow Avatar
172 months ago
Exactly. It is competition which is healthy for everyone. You can compete to have someone bring jobs to your area or not and lose it all.

It is just the greedy, power-hungry politicians in Travis County who think they can squeeze something out of Apple.

More like Apple is trying to squeeze something out of Travis County. Travis County is providing city services and infrastructure, paid for with taxes. It's absurd that we have any sort of corporate welfare like this, especially for companies with the cash reserves Apple has. How you can defend this is beyond me.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gotluck Avatar
172 months ago
Texas is in a better economic position than much of the US right now. Maybe they don't need to bend over for Apple?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DubOverdose Avatar
172 months ago
Why give tax breaks to the most profitable corporations in the world? The local authorities have to provide infrastructure, etc., and get no revenue?

Apple will locate its offices where it is best to strategically, and that includes keeping an eye on associated costs. If building in Austin is more expensive (and thus less advantageous), then Apple will go elsewhere. If Austin wants a major employer to stay there and grow, then they will offer Apple some incentives. Make no doubt, it is beneficial for Austin to have that many more jobs in the area with all those added workers spending money in the area.

And being a profitable company does not mean that the company should be dicked around with. It is a profitable company because it is extremely well run and is a company you'd want in your city.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
172 months ago
Why give tax breaks to the most profitable corporations in the world? The local authorities have to provide infrastructure, etc., and get no revenue?
They don't need any tax breaks ... And why should they get any ... What a joke ...
3,600 people paying income tax and sales tax and homeowner taxes and car taxes provides lots of revenue.

It's up to Texas and Arizona to fight over that revenue.

What do you suggest? If you're on that city council you'd say "yeah, sure. Go send all that money to Arizona. We don't need it"? (Not to mention that your unemployment rate is worse since there are 3,600 fewer jobs than there otherwise would have been.)

That's not a move that will get you reelected.


How you can defend this is beyond me.
Then give us a solution. What should that city council do?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)