A new study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that many of America’s largest corporations paid $0 in federal income taxes under the first year of President Trump’s tax law in 2018. Notable corporations in the study included Amazon, Netflix, Starbucks, Delta, Halliburton, and General Motors.
In 2017, Trump and Republican lawmakers pushed through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which promised economic growth but has so far shown sluggish results. The law lowered the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% though corporations have utilized a slew of loopholes, deductions, and tax breaks to bring their balance sheets lower than they have been in decades. Between 2017 and 2018, tax revenue fell sharply from $300 billion to $204 billion.
Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at ITEP and lead author of the study, said, “The key takeaway from this study is that the 2017 tax law is working out well for profitable corporations, which are paying some of the lowest tax rates that ITEP has recorded in the nearly 40 years it has been examining corporate taxes.”
Among those with the largest share of total tax subsidies were Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Amazon, and Verizon, who combined received more than $16 billion in tax breaks during the tax law’s first year. The study also showed that 379 profitable corporations paid only 11.3% in federal income taxes on their 2018 income.
Highlight: @iteptweets Senior Fellow Matthew Gardner on his new study, which reveals the companies that paid $0 or less in federal income tax in 2018: pic.twitter.com/yu0Q28UDYX
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) December 16, 2019
91 profitable Fortune 500 companies paid $0.00 in federal income taxes on U.S. income in 2018, the first year of the Trump-GOP tax law.
??? Our nation’s ability to fund critical priorities is a tax policy issue. https://t.co/R8tobuczJR pic.twitter.com/qtUQOqPROM
— ITEP (@iteptweets) December 16, 2019
