A rare provision in San Francisco’s business tax code that taxes companies when employees cash in their stock options has caused a stir in this hotbed of fledgling tech companies. Remarkably, few companies even knew about the tax, which has been in effect for seven years. But since city officials offered Twitter a payroll-tax break as an incentive for it to remain in San Francisco (the company is considered likely to go public soon), the stock-option provision has suddenly come under intense scrutiny. A number of other booming companies, including Zings, the maker of online games and one of the city’s fastest-growing firms, have threatened to leave the city unless they receive similar payroll-tax exemptions before going public.
Unlike most cities, San Francisco generates most of its business tax revenue through a payroll tax. The Twitter exemption bill, which will be considered by the full Board of Supervisors on April 5, would freeze payroll taxes for six years along a strip of Market Street—where Twitter is set to relocate—and several square blocks in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Twitter executives had been concerned because since 2004 the city’s payroll tax code has counted stock options granted to employees as compensation, which is taxed at 1.5 percent. If Twitter goes public in San Francisco and a large number of workers exercise their options, the city would tax the company on its employees’ stock gains—a bill likely to amount to tens of millions of dollars. "Twitter could be looking at a significantly larger payroll tax liability if and when it goes public," said Ted Egan, the chief economist in San Francisco’s controller’s office.
Because of the dearth of I. P. O. ’s inside the city limits in the last decade, the stockoption tax has gone under radar until now. Businesses, city officials and even seasoned tax lawyers are confounded. "Nobody ever talked about this because nobody’s really tested these issues before," said Thomas H. Steele, a partner in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office, specializing in state and local tax. He said that his clients began calling him this week to ask about the tax’s ramifications. "A Pandora’s box has already been opened," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, a member of the Board of Supervisors’ budget and finance committee, who has expressed concern about tailoring legislation for one company. "We’ve been going about this the wrong way," he said. The recent confusion has added impetus to calls for comprehensive business tax reform by David Chiu, the board president. "The stock option problem is real," Mr. Chiu said. "We have to address it in a fair and responsible way.
We can infer from the second paragraph（）
A. Twitter no longer continues to be tax-free
B. Twitter’s going public has disadvantage
C. The Twitter exemption bill will reduce the San Francisco government’s revenue
D. Twitter executives are concerned about Twitter’s going public
参考答案：C
解析：
[考核题型] 推理判断题
第二段讲述了为了留住Twitter，the full Board of Supervisors将在下周考虑通过对Twltter周围街区免税的政策，如果没有该免税政策的话，Twitter上市可能面临高达几千万美元的工资税，由此可见A选项错误，之前Twitter并不享受免税。B选项以偏概全，虽然Twitter可能面临几千万美元的工资税，但并不见得给Twitter带来的好处会小于弊端。第二段三句提到“Twitter executves had been conceined．．．”，此处concerned应为对投票关切，或者表示焦虑，不是对Twitter能否上市关切，故D错误。排除三项之后，可知C选项为正确答案。