Cupertino mulls ‘head tax’ on Apple, other local businesses: report

Cupertino, California, the city that houses tech giant Apple’s global headquarters, is mulling whether to implement a “head tax” on its largest employers, according to a report Monday.

Under the proposal, Apple and other large employers would pay an annual charge for every employee that works in the city. Cupertino City Manager David Brandt told the San Francisco Chronicle that local officials have started polling the city’s residents on whether they would support the tax and where the tax revenue would be spent.

Without specific details on the tax’s financial parameters, it is unclear how much Apple would owe each year under the proposal. Publicly-traded companies are not required to disclose how many people they employ in a given city, but Apple has more than 25,000 employees in the Bay Area, according to the Chronicle.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Cupertino’s city council would have to approve a head tax proposal in order for it to be considered by local voters.

The report came days after Seattle’s city council voted to approve a head tax that will charge employers with $20 million or more in annual revenue $275 per employee per year. Seattle plans to use the revenue from the tax to address widespread homelessness in the city.

Amazon, Starbucks and other large companies housed in Seattle have publicly criticized the city’s head tax.