How Tesla and Amazon Pay Almost No Taxes While Middle-Class Rates Climb
To the editor: Contributing writer Veronique de Rugy accurately describes in many ways the demonstrably unfair effects of the U.S. tax system that most of us contribute to ("Debunking five myths of the American tax system," April 16). However, in her op-ed, she unfortunately reaches some very inaccurate conclusions and seems to adopt the much-maligned 'trickle-down' theory. As just one example, she wrongly concludes that corporate taxation is largely borne by the corporation's workers and customers and, therefore, corporations should not bear their fair share.
In 2025, a married couple with $96,951 in income would be federally taxed at a top rate of 22%. Contrast that to Tesla in 2025, which had $5.7 billion of U.S. income and paid no federal income tax - or to Amazon in 2025, which had operating income of $79.98 billion but paid only $1.2 billion (1.5%) in federal income tax. And President Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanently reduced the top federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, making for a 40% decrease in taxes paid on IRS taxable income.
Reduced corporate tax rates benefit shareholders and corporate officers, not, for the most part, workers and customers. As just one example, in late 2025, Tesla approved a new, heavily contested $1-trillion compensation package for Elon Musk while it paid no federal income tax. And all these corporate tax reductions have occurred while Trump's sky-high federal deficit reaches unprecedented levels.
Economist John Kenneth Galbraith famously described and debunked trickle-down economics, where reduced corporate taxes supposedly benefit consumers, this way: 'If you feed enough oats to the horse, some will pass through to feed the sparrows.'
Read also:
- India's Agriculture Minister Reviews Sector Progress Amid Heavy Rains, Crop Areas Up
- Sleep Maxxing Trends and Tips: New Zealanders Seek Better Rest
- Over 1.7M in Baden-Württemberg at Poverty Risk, Emmendingen's Housing Crisis Urgent
- Cyprus, Kuwait Strengthen Strategic Partnership with Upcoming Ministerial Meeting
