Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP)

Corporate Tax Avoidance

596 companies avoided $207.2 billion in federal income tax on $1.7 trillion of profit in 2025

596 companies avoided $207.2 billion in federal income tax on $1.7 trillion of profit in 2025

596 companies avoided

in federal income tax on $1.7 trillion
of profit in 2025

Effective federal tax rate 8.7%
0%21% statutory rate
Paid no federal income tax 114 of 596 companies
Paid under 7% 258 of 596 companies, including those that paid nothing

How the 596 companies break down by rate paid

Who is included?
A company is counted as avoiding tax if it is U.S.-based, reported a U.S. pretax profit, and paid an effective federal rate below the 21% statutory rate. Tax avoided is 21% of each company’s profit minus the federal income tax it paid.

Top Five

Top Federal Tax Avoiders

Alphabet

Technology: Internet Services and Retailing · California

U.S. profit
$144.4B
Effective tax rate
7.9%
Tax avoided
$19.0B

Federal tax breaks include

  • Depreciation Deduction$3.3 billion
  • FDII Deduction$3.9 billion
  • R&D Credit$2.1 billion
  • Stock Options$2.6 billion

Microsoft

Technology: Computer Software · Washington

U.S. profit
$100.9B
Effective tax rate
2.4%
Tax avoided
$18.7B

Federal tax breaks include

  • R&D Expensing$1.6 billion
  • Depreciation Deduction$12 billion
  • R&D Credit$1.5 billion

Amazon.com

Retailing: Internet Services and Retailing · Washington

U.S. profit
$89.0B
Effective tax rate
1.4%
Tax avoided
$17.5B

Federal tax breaks include

  • R&D Expensing$4 billion
  • Depreciation Deduction$6.5 billion
  • R&D Credit$2.4 billion
  • Stock Options$2.6 billion

Meta Platforms

Technology: Internet Services and Retailing · California

U.S. profit
$79.4B
Effective tax rate
3.6%
Tax avoided
$13.9B

Federal tax breaks include

  • R&D Expensing$12.6 billion
  • Depreciation Deduction$4.9 billion
  • R&D Credit$3.9 billion
  • Stock Options$4.3 billion

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Financials: Commercial Banks · New York

U.S. profit
$54.7B
Effective tax rate
5.7%
Tax avoided
$8.4B

Federal tax breaks include

  • Depreciation Deduction$2.7 billion
  • Tax Credits$2.1 billion

Company explorer

Companies That Avoided Federal Income Tax

Search by name, filter by sector, state or tax rate, and sort any column. Select a row for the details.

Companies are included here only if review of their 10-K filing for the 2025 fiscal year indicates that they avoided paying some amount of federal income taxes. Companies are counted as avoiding federal income tax if they are based in the US, reported a domestic pretax profit, and their federal ETR is less than the statutory 21%. Total tax avoided is the sum of the difference between the amount each company paid in federal income tax and 21% of their pretax profits. Individual tax reduction items are listed only for companies with a federal ETR below 15%.

Companies that avoided federal income tax, sortable by column. Select a company name for details.
Details

With earnings season now underway, dozens of huge corporations have disclosed paying single-digit federal income tax rates thanks to tax cuts included in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla collectively avoided $51 billion in federal income tax for 2025. Tesla and Palantir reported paying zero federal income tax at all.

President Trump’s 2017 tax law and the recently passed OBBBA have led to substantial tax avoidance from the nation’s largest corporations. Corporate profits continue to soar while corporate tax avoidance reaches extreme levels. That’s why reforming the corporate income tax and closing loopholes is so critical to a fair tax code.

Publications on Corporate Tax Avoidance (View All)

Blog

Let Them Eat Cheesecake: Federal Tax Breaks for Restaurant Chains Encourage Low Pay and Low Corporate Tax Rates

November 9, 2026 • Matthew Gardner

Six restaurant companies – Cheesecake Factory, Brinker (the parent company of Chili’s), Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden), Bloomin’ Brands (Outback Steakhouse), Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, and Texas Roadhouse – collectively disclosed $2.5 billion of U.S. profits last year on which they paid tax rates averaging 5.4 percent, far below the statutory 21 percent.

Blog

114 Profitable Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025

October 30, 2026 • ITEP Staff

There were 114 corporations that paid no federal income tax in 2025. That includes well-known companies like Tesla, Walt Disney, CVS, Citigroup, United Airlines, Palantir, and DoorDash.

Blog

Bigger Corporations, Bigger Tax Breaks: Consolidation Leads Six Corporations to Grab a Giant Share of Subsidies

October 28, 2026 • Matthew Gardner

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and J.P. Morgan Chase collectively raked in 42 percent of the total tax subsidies that 706 profitable U.S. corporations received in 2025.

Blog

Interactive: Corporate America Paid Less Than Ever in 2025

October 26, 2026 • ITEP Staff

In 2025, 706 profitable corporations paid an effective federal tax rate of just 10.4%, less than half the 21% statutory rate and the lowest ITEP has found in 40+ years of studies. 114 of them paid nothing at all.

Report

After Two Rounds of Trump Tax Cuts, Corporate America Paid Less Than Ever in 2025

October 22, 2026 • Matthew Gardner, Steve Wamhoff, Joe Hughes, Spandan Marasini

In 2025, 706 major American corporations collectively paid a federal income tax rate of just 10.4% on $1.88 trillion in U.S. profits. This is the lowest effective rate that ITEP has uncovered in over 40 years of analyzing corporate income taxes.

Blog

Meta’s Outlandish Tax Breaks for AI Data Centers

September 30, 2026 • Steve Wamhoff

Meta is claiming the research tax credit – a tax break meant to encourage innovation and experimentation – to pay for the equipment it uses in data centers to power its AI activities. ITEP described how Meta paid just 3.5% of its profits in federal corporate income taxes in 2025.