Samsung seeks hefty tax incentives for Texas projects

Samsung is looking to expand its investment in Austin by about $192 billion — but not without substantial tax breaks.

The South Korean tech giant has put forth plans to build 11 semiconductor fabrication plants — or “fabs” — over the next 20 years in the central Texas region. Samsung has filed Chapter 313 tax abatement applications with the Manor school district indicating that two are planned for the firm’s existing Austin site and nine to be built at the new Taylor property, according to the Austin-American Statesman.

The first two future fabs are planned for the Austin site that already has two operational fabs, so the two new factories are dubbed Austin Fab 3 and Austin Fab 4 in the incentive applications.

Both are valued around $12 billion and are expected to begin construction in 2027. The company aims to have them operational — with the proposed tax breaks taking effect — by the mid-2030’s. Samsung is proposing 10-year tax abatement worth $299 million and $316 million for Austin Fab 3 and 4, respectively.

The Taylor fabs range between $15 and $23 billion in cost. As with Austin, the Taylor site already has a completed semiconductor plant, so the nine new fabs are named Fab 2 through 10 in their tax incentive applications.

Construction on Taylor’s Fab 2 is expected to begin as early as 2025. The smallest of the Taylor fabs, its estimated value is a little over $15 million and Samsung is expecting a tax break of $365 million over its first 10 years of operation.

At the other end, Taylor fabs 8, 9 and 10 are each expecting tax breaks of more than $500 million apiece over their first 10 years of operation. The three projects have a combined value of over $100 billion and won’t be finished until the early 2040’s.

Overall, the proposed plants in Austin and Taylor are expected to bring ​​around 10,000 new jobs to Central Texas. In order for Samsung to meet Chapter 313 requirements, each fab needs to offer at least 25 “qualifying” jobs. So, the fab proposals include many positions paying more than $150,000 in annual salary.

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