Google would have benefited from tax breaks by using secret screen companies

Google has used screen companies and subsidiaries to hide its involvement in expansion projects generating millions of dollars in tax breaks, according to a report released by the Washington Post on Friday, highlighting how technology companies have agreements with local governments.

When the search giant was planning to build a data center in Midlothian, Texas, Google turned to a subsidiary called Sharka LLC, The Post reported. Other subsidiaries implemented by Google for development projects include Jet Stream LLC and Questa LLC.

Google also makes extensive use of nondisclosure agreements with officials, said The Post. In the case of the Texas data center, Google wanted a tax cut of more than 10 years, but Midlothian's economic development manager was not allowed to reveal Google's involvement in the project, says The report.

The size of transactions between local governments and technology companies came to light Thursday after the fall of Amazon a bomb ad: The construction of a second mbadive seat in New York was no longer considered. The withdrawal follows strong opposition from local politicians and labor groups, fueled in part by tax breaks granted by the city to the e-commerce giant.

The conclusion of agreements is crucial for Google because it accelerates its expansion. Earlier this week, CEO Sundar Pichai said the research giant is investing $ 13 billion in data centers and offices across the country, mainly in the Midwest, East Coast and South . This includes new and expanded data centers located in Ohio, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. New and expanded office locations include locations in Virginia, Georgia and Chicago.

In California, Google builds a giant campus in San Jose, about 15 miles from the company's headquarters in Mountain View. The new San Jose Outpost will be Google's second largest campus. Partnership for Working Families, which obtained Google's recordings and shared them with The Post, sued the city of San Jose for its negotiations with Google. The claim group did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for Google has called his tactics "industry standard practices". In the early days of trading, companies often try to silence negotiations because they do not want to warn competitors or announce their plans prematurely. But some critics have pointed out that secrecy is detrimental to local communities, who sometimes can not protest before it's too late.

"We are convinced that public dialogue is essential to the process of building new sites and offices, so we are actively working with community members and locally elected officials in our homes," said Google spokeswoman in a statement. "Of course, when we enter new communities, we use common industry practices and work with municipalities to comply with the required procedures."

Nevertheless, the concerns of local communities will remain a permanent battle for the tech giants, while Silicon Valley faces a closer scrutiny of its scale and influence.

On Friday, Google tried to highlight some of the benefits of its expansion. Google's data centers generate $ 1.3 billion in economic activity, $ 750 million in labor income, and 11,000 jobs in the United States in a single year.