When communities thrive, so do corporations. But when profitable corporations build their empires by exploiting the tax code, it is workers, the environment and our communities—not CEOs or shareholders—that are harmed. Amazon posted its highest U.S. profit ever for 2020, an unprecedented year defined by a pandemic. Yet the company sheltered more than half its profits from corporate taxes—legally. While the company may be one of the most recognizable tax avoiders, it’s not an outlier.
Matthew Gardner
Matt Gardner is a senior fellow at ITEP where he has worked since 1998. He previously served as ITEP’s executive director from 2006 to 2016. Matt’s work focuses on federal, state and local tax systems, with a particular emphasis on the impact of tax policies on low- and moderate-income taxpayers. He uses ITEP’s microsimulation model to produce economic projections and analyses on the effects of current and proposed federal and state tax and budget policies.
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April 8, 2021 The High Cost of Corporate Tax Avoidance (Webinar)
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media mention April 8, 2021 AlJazeera: Pros, cons and pragmatism: Biden’s plan to fund infrastructure
Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, agrees. “The low cost of borrowing and the pressing spending needs we face right now make deficit… -
media mention April 8, 2021 Bloomberg: Biden Tax Plan Seen Hitting Tech, Pharmaceutical Companies
The provisions — part of the administration’s plan to finance a $2.25 trillion infrastructure package — mean that tech and pharmaceutical companies could lose many of the tax-planning tools that… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Salon: America’s Biggest Corporations Paid No Federal Income Taxes Last Year: Study
According to a new study, conservative policies look to have helped a handful of large companies mooch off the federal government in 2020. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy,… -
media mention April 7, 2021 Akron Beacon Journal: FirstEnergy, AEP among 55 Companies that Paid Zero Federal Income Taxes in 2020, Report Shows
FirstEnergy and AEP also were among 26 profitable companies that for three years, from 2018 to 2020, took legal deductions that allowed them to pay zero federal income tax, according… -
media mention April 6, 2021 (Connecticut) Middletown-Press: Stamford-based Charter Communications Paid No Federal Income Taxes in 2020, New Report Shows
The treatment of Charter and the 54 other companies “continues a decades-long trend of corporate tax avoidance by the biggest U.S. corporations, and it appears to be the product of… -
media mention April 6, 2021 Bloomberg: Biden Tax Plan Seen Hitting Tech, Pharmaceutical Companies
The provisions — part of the administration’s plan to finance a $2.25 trillion infrastructure package — mean that tech and pharmaceutical companies could lose many of the tax-planning tools that… -
media mention April 5, 2021 CBS News: Dozens of Profitable U.S. Companies Haven’t Had a Federal Tax Expense since Trump’s Rate Cut
More than two dozen large U.S. companies have made a collective $77 billion in domestic profits in the past three years without any expectation of having to immediately pay federal… -
media mention April 5, 2021 Wall Street Journal: A 28% Tax Rate Will Cost Companies, but Not Equally
Supporters say the tax increase cannot be looked at in isolation. Domestic companies and American workers stand to benefit from the Biden administration’s proposal to spend more than $2 trillion… -
media mention April 5, 2021 Washington Post: Dozens of America’s Biggest Businesses Paid No Federal Income Tax Again
Fifty-five of the nation’s largest corporations paid no federal income tax on more than $40 billion in profits last year, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and… -
media mention April 2, 2021 New York Times: No Federal Taxes for Dozens of Big, Profitable Companies
Just as the Biden administration is pushing to raise taxes on corporations, a new study finds that at least 55 of America’s largest paid no taxes last year on billions… -
report April 2, 2021 55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits
At least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the United States. This continues a decades-long trend of corporate tax avoidance by the biggest U.S. corporations, and it appears to be the product of long-standing tax breaks preserved or expanded by the 2017 tax law as well as the CARES Act tax breaks enacted in the spring of 2020.
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news release March 31, 2021 President Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Moves Toward Ending “Zero-Tax” Profitable Corporations
Following is a statement by Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding the corporate tax provisions in the “American Jobs Plan,” released by… -
media mention March 24, 2021 CBS News: Zoom’s pandemic profits exceeded $670 million. Its federal tax payment? Zilch
“We are only taxing about half of all corporate profits,” observed Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which put out a report on… -
media mention March 23, 2021 Salon: Zoom Increased Profit by 4,000% during the Pandemic — but the Company Paid $0 in Federal Income Tax
The U.S.-based online video chat platform Zoom has seen its profits skyrocket by 4000% during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the growing reliance on remote work and schooling, but an… -
media mention March 23, 2021 Business Insider: Zoom Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on $664 Million in Pandemic Profits, Mostly by Paying Executives Stock Options
“Companies that compensate their leadership with stock options can write off, for tax purposes, huge expenses that far exceed their actual cost,” Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute… -
media mention March 23, 2021 New York Post: Zoom Paid No Federal Income Tax Last Year amid Pandemic Profit Surge
The Silicon Valley firm appears to have achieved that feat largely thanks to its use of stock-based compensation for employees, which helped reduce its worldwide tax bill by more than… -
media mention March 22, 2021 Common Dreams: Zoom Paid $0 in Federal Income Taxes on 4,000% Profit Increase During Pandemic: Report
The U.S.-based online video chat platform Zoom has seen its profits skyrocket by 4000% during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the growing reliance on remote work and schooling, but an… -
blog March 19, 2021 Zoom Pays $0 in Federal Income Taxes on Pandemic Profits
Zoom Video Communications, the company providing a platform used by remote workers and school children across the country during the pandemic, saw its profits increase by more than 4,000 percent last year but paid no federal corporate income tax on those profits.
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media mention March 18, 2021 The Hill: A Straightforward Way to Pay for Biden’s Recovery Plan (Opinion)
Now that President Biden and Congress have enacted a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure, the president will soon provide details for the second item on his agenda, a major recovery plan. The package could include some of the tax increases on which he campaigned to pay for new spending.
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media mention February 24, 2021 Politifact: Facebook post misleads about tax bill breakdown
Experts say analyzing this claim isn’t easy because the post lacks necessary details. Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the post is… -
media mention February 12, 2021 Washington Post: Drug Companies Seek Billion-dollar Tax Deductions from Opioid Settlement
“A settlement has not been reached, and, therefore, we applied significant judgment in estimating the ultimate amount of the opioid litigation settlement that would be deductible,” the company said. Matthew… -
blog February 12, 2021 CARES Act Helps Create $4.6 Billion Tax Cut for Health Care Companies Paying Opioid Settlements
Talk about a one-two punch. A new report from the Washington Post reveals that the U.S. public is set to pay for the opioid crisis again. Already, communities across the country have paid a heavy price via the devastating public health toll. Now, it appears taxpayers will be on the hook for billions in corporate tax breaks as four pharmaceutical companies exploit a loophole in the Trump-GOP tax law and a CARES Act tax provision meant for companies facing pandemic-related profit losses.
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media mention February 5, 2021 Wall Street Journal: Amazon’s U.S. Tax Costs Jumped in 2020. It Likely Would Pay Even More Under Biden Plan.
Amazon’s low reported tax expenses in earlier years, along with similar figures from other companies, helped spur Democratic proposals for minimum taxes that would affect them. “Half a loaf is… -
blog February 3, 2021 Amazon Has Record-Breaking Profits in 2020, Avoids $2.3 Billion in Federal Income Taxes
Amazon’s winning streak in its battle against the U.S. tax system remains intact. This week the retail giant announced record-breaking sales and income for 2020, and an effective federal income tax rate of just 9.4 percent, less than half the statutory corporate tax of 21 percent. If Amazon had paid 21 percent of its profits in federal income tax, that would have come to $4.1 billion. The company’s reported current tax of $1.8 billion was less than half that, meaning last year Amazon avoided $2.3 billion in taxes.