Corporate Tax Avoidance
310 companies avoided $147,408,930,000 in federal income tax on $1.1 trillion of profit in 2025
310 companies avoided $147,408,930,000 in federal income tax on $1.1 trillion of profit in 2025
310 companies avoided
$147,408,930,000
in federal income tax on $1.1 trillion
of profit in 2025
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.
Top Three Federal Tax Avoiders
Alphabet
Reported federal tax rate: 8.01%
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
Amazon.com
Reported federal tax rate: 1.37%
Federal Tax breaks include
- Depreciation Deduction$6.5 billion
- R&D Credit$2.4 billion
- Stock Options$2.6 billion
Meta
Reported federal tax rate: 3.57%
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
Recent Filings
Valley National Bancorp
Reported federal tax rate: 10.06%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Credit$50.7 million
- Other Tax Credits$5.9 million
Waters
Reported federal tax rate: 10.68%
Federal Tax breaks include
- Tax Credits$6.7 million
Walmart
Reported federal tax rate: 9.54%
Federal Tax breaks include
- Depreciation Deduction$1.8 billion
- R&D Credit$323 million
- Stock Options$373 million
Vontier
Reported federal tax rate: 12.01%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Expensing$19.4 million
- FDII Deduction$10.6 million
- R&D Credit$5.5 million
- Other Tax Credits$7.8 million
Yelp
Reported federal tax rate: 11.96%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Expensing$18.1 million
- Depreciation Deduction$5.5 million
- R&D Credit$7 million
CarMax
Reported federal tax rate: 8.1%
Federal Tax breaks include
- Depreciation Deduction$65.7 million
- Transferable Tax Credits$4.5 million
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%.
Publications on Corporate Tax Avoidance (View All)
Amidst Soaring Tech Earnings, Meta and Qualcomm Disclose a $13.7 Billion Tax Gift from Trump Administration
Both companies acknowledge that they will save billions because of the Trump administration's weakening of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT). Meta and Qualcomm are just two of the corporations that will benefit from this corporate tax cut provided unilaterally by the Trump's Treasury Department.
The Washington Post Is Wrong: Many Rich Americans Are Not Paying Their Fair Share
Bezos' hand-picked editorial board argues that our tax code does not need to be more progressive because the share of federal income tax paid by the rich already exceeds their share of income. This is grossly misleading for at least two reasons.
At Least 88 Profitable U.S. Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025
At least 88 of the largest corporations in America paid $0 in federal income tax for 2025. Corporate tax avoidance has increased at least in part due to President Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
How Four Big Pro-Trump Tech Companies Avoided Taxes
The leaders of Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla publicly supported Trump to ensure the most favorable corporate tax policies possible. And Trump delivered for them, both in his 2017 tax bill and again in 2025 with the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
New Income Tax Disclosure Rules Mean Halliburton Can No Longer Conceal Its Offshore Tax Avoidance
The company’s latest annual report throws the doors wide open once again on Halliburton’s penchant for offshoring its profits to tax havens, thanks to terrific new disclosure rules introduced by an obscure but vital agency, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).
Cheniere Energy Gets $380 Million Gift from Trump’s Treasury Department
Cheniere Energy's latest annual financial report shows the company reaped a cool $380 million in tax cuts from a single regulatory change made by the Trump administration last fall.
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