Intel for years has been complaining about California's hospitable tax climate. Employing staff here is just too expensive, the company has said.

Intel might have its corporate head quarters in the Golden State, but it has repeatedly stated that is has a "no hiring" policy: as a rule California based employees who retire can only be replaced in facilities in other states.

That doesn't mean that Intel doesn't take the state for every penny is can squeeze out of it. As the San Jose Mercury News reports, Intel is one of 18 companies that received a total of $80.9 m in tax refunds from the state of California. Other companies on the list include HP and Cypress Semiconductor.

The refund has Californians fuming, because the companies already pay effectively nothing in income taxes.

Furthermore, the refund comes at a time when the state is facing a $8.6 bn budget deficit. (Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year promised to make that black hole disappear by simply "opening up the books").

28 Jan 2005