The Verge: Amazon finally owes federal income taxes this year — but we still don’t know how much it’s paying

t’s still, however, a low number compared to Amazon’s total profits. “It’s not fair to say [Amazon] paid nothing” on federal taxes anymore, says Matthew Gardner of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, whose reports have spurred coverage of Amazon’s taxes. “Clearly they’re not paying nothing. They’re paying very little.”

Gardner takes issue with the $1 billion claim, arguing that deferred taxes don’t tell us what Amazon will actually pay down the road — if, say, the tax rate gets cut in the future. Gardner also notes that these are just estimates, not Amazon’s actual tax returns. Companies don’t need to release these, so they largely remain a mystery — along with deductions that Amazon might make to lower the $162 million estimate. Read more