Corporate Tax Avoidance
69 companies avoided $71,570,400,000 in federal income tax on $487.9 billion of profit in 2025
69 companies avoided $71,570,400,000 in federal income tax on $487.9 billion of profit in 2025
69 companies avoided
in federal income tax on $487.9 billion
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
Ball
Reported federal tax rate: 12.61%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Expensing$233 million
- Depreciation Deduction$34 million
Citigroup
Reported federal tax rate: -0.97%
Consolidated Edison
Reported federal tax rate: 1.3%
Federal Tax breaks include
- Depreciation Deduction$481 million
Toast
Reported federal tax rate: 0%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Expensing$66 million
- R&D Credit$17 million
- Stock Options$70 million
Etsy
Reported federal tax rate: 3.59%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Expensing$41.5 million
- R&D Credit$17.2 million
- Stock Options$3.9 million
ATI
Reported federal tax rate: 6.58%
Federal Tax breaks include
- R&D Expensing$13.2 million
- Depreciation Deduction$7.3 million
- FDII Deduction$6.8 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 if they represent more than 1% of profits and only for companies with a federal ETR below 15%.
Publications on Corporate Tax Avoidance (View All)
Live Nation Entertainment Says Trump Tax Law Drove its 2025 Federal Income Tax Bill to Zero
The company paid zero federal income tax in 2025 despite reporting $145 million of U.S. profits.
Palantir Pays Zero Federal Income Tax Despite Explosive Growth, Largely Due to Trump Tax Law
Palantir reported $1.5 billion of U.S. income but paid exactly zero federal income tax in 2025. Despite explosive growth, tax breaks from the Trump tax law helped Palantir avoid paying even a dime of federal income tax on its earnings.
Four Big Tech Companies Avoid $51 Billion in Taxes in Wake of One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Four of the corporations whose CEOs flanked President Trump at his 2025 inauguration ceremony have now disclosed that they collectively received $51 billion in federal tax breaks in 2025, much of that likely from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Meta’s Federal Tax Rate Hits an All-Time Low Due to Breaks Expanded by Trump Tax Law
The company paid an effective federal income tax rate of just over 3.5% in 2025, the lowest it has recorded since the company went public as Facebook in 2012.
Tesla Reported Zero Federal Income Tax on $5.7 Billion of U.S. Income in 2025
Tesla enjoyed almost $5.7 billion of U.S. income in 2025 but paid $0 in federal income tax. Over the past three years, the Elon Musk-led company reported $12.5 billion of U.S. income on which its current federal tax was just $48 million.
2025: The Year in Tax Policy
From Congressional discussions over the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to debates on property taxes, ITEP kept busy this year analyzing tax proposals and showing Americans across the country how tax decisions affect them.
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