Samsung to receive tax incentives on condition of building a semiconductor plant

The City of Taylor in Williamson County, Texas passed a bill to provide tax incentives to Samsung to bring a 17-billion-dollar (approximately 20 trillion won) worth semiconductor plant to Taylor.

The local broadcast network KXAN reported on Thursday that Taylor City and Williamson County held a joint meeting where participants unanimously voted in favor to provide property tax exemptions to Samsung on condition of building its semiconductor plant in Taylor.

According to agreements signed by Samsung and Williamson County, the county will give a 90% tax rebate for the first 10 years, then a 80% for the next 10 years on condition of building an over 560,000 square meters semiconductor plant facilities and create 1,800 new jobs by January 31, 2026. KXAN reported that up to 10,000 new jobs will be created for the construction of the plant only.

Judge Bill Gravell of Williamson County who approved the tax incentive bill said this would be the largest economic development project in the history of Texas as well as the largest foreign investment in the United States.

In the meantime, Samsung Electronics maintains that it is weighing up multiple candidates including the City of Taylor, Austin, and Arizona, and that a final decision is yet to be made. “We are currently negotiating with multiple candidates over various matters including tax incentives. Nothing has been confirmed as of now,” said a Samsung official.


Jong-Yeob JO jjj@donga.com · Dong-Il Seo dong@donga.com