Amazon—Amazon paid $0 in federal income tax on $11.2 billion profit in 2018 and received $129 million refund
For fiscal year 2018, Amazon reported $11.2 billion in US pre-tax income but paid an effective federal income tax rate of -1%, receiving a $129 million federal tax refund. The previous year (2017), Amazon paid $0 on $5.6 billion profit. The company's tax strategies included use of R&D tax credits, stock-based compensation deductions, and other provisions. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported that Amazon had paid an effective federal tax rate of just 3.4% over the prior decade on cumulative profits of $26.5 billion.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Practices | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
ITEP reported Amazon paid $0 federal income tax on $11.2 billion profit in 2018
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported that Amazon paid no federal income tax on $11.2 billion in US pre-tax income for 2018, receiving a $129 million refund for an effective rate of -1%. ITEP found Amazon had paid an effective federal tax rate of just 3.4% over the prior decade on $26.5 billion in cumulative profits, using R&D credits and stock-based compensation deductions.