Jeff Bezos says some Americans should pay zero federal income tax

Amazon enforcement president Jeff Bezos, by immoderate estimates the world's fourth-wealthiest person, has turned the tables connected the "tax the rich" effort. He is advocating for eliminating national income taxes for lower-income Americans.

In an interrogation connected Wednesday with CNBC, Bezos reflected connected his upbringing arsenic the lad of a Cuban migrant and a teenage mother, who "brought themselves up" during hard times.

"I privation to marque definite that the radical who are struggling contiguous person a accidental to bash that, too, to bring themselves up, and possibly they're going to beryllium the adjacent Steve Jobs,” Bezos said. “Maybe 1 of their kids volition beryllium the adjacent Steve Jobs. I don't know, but we tin springiness them a amended accidental by eliminating their taxation bill."

While Bezos besides argued that raising taxes connected the affluent volition bash small to assistance struggling households, efforts to taxation precocious earners proceed to summation traction. New York City politician Zohran Mamdani launched a "pied-à-terre" taxation connected luxury 2nd homes of affluent spot owners who don't unrecorded successful the metropolis afloat time. And a fractional twelve oregon much states are considering alleged "wealth taxes" arsenic well.

Read more: California billionaire taxation moves person to November ballot: What to know

‘A caregiver successful Queens should not wage taxes’

Bezos said that the apical 1% of earners wage 40% of taxes, portion the bottommost fractional of earners wage lone 3% of each taxation revenue.

"A caregiver successful Queens who makes $75,000 a twelvemonth pays much than $12,000 a twelvemonth successful taxes. Does that truly marque sense? How astir we commencement by having the caregiver successful Queens not wage taxes? That's $1,000 a period that could assistance with rent oregon groceries oregon anything. The bottommost fractional of income earners successful this state wage lone 3% of the taxes. It's lone 3%. We tin find 3%," Bezos said.

Data from the Tax Foundation, a taxation probe deliberation tank, mostly aligns with Bezos’ figures. According to the organization, successful 2023, the apical 1% of taxpayers paid 38.4% of each national idiosyncratic income taxes, portion the bottommost fractional of taxpayers, who gain little than $53,801, paid 3.3% of the total.

"When radical are starting retired and they're struggling, halt taxing them. We don't request it. We unrecorded successful the wealthiest state successful the world," Bezos said.

However, astir 76 cardinal households paid nary national income taxation successful 2025. According to the Tax Policy Center, 70% earned little than $75,000, and 45% earned little than $40,000. Many taxpayers utilized the modular deduction, arsenic good arsenic different exclusions and credits, specified arsenic the earned income taxation recognition and the kid taxation credit, to trim their taxation liability, the Tax Policy Center said.

Read next: Get up of adjacent year’s taxes: 6 moves to marque close now

The 'Keep Your Pay Act'

There person been legislature bills floating the conception of reducing oregon eliminating taxes for households of humble means, though nary person precocious significantly.

In March, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced the Keep Your Pay Act, which would marque the archetypal $75,000 of income tax-free for households filing jointly.

"This program tin beryllium afloat paid for by unrigging our taxation strategy — truthful that the wealthiest fewer and the biggest corporations that are getting affluent by keeping prices precocious yet commencement paying their just share," Booker said successful a connection announcing the proposal.

The measure was referred to the Senate Finance Committee, wherever it remains.

A half-million dollars successful taxes implicit a beingness

While families of humble means surely would applaud a no-federal-income-tax initiative, their taxation bills wouldn't disappear. There are inactive authorities and section income taxes, payroll taxes, income taxes, spot taxes, superior gains taxes, and excise, estate, and acquisition taxes.

An estimation compiled by Paradigm Life Insurance listed 97 antithetic taxes successful the U.S. taxation code, including:

• Air Transportation Taxes

• Biodiesel Fuel Taxes

• Building Permit Taxes

• Business Registration Fees

• Cigarette Taxes

• Driver's License Fees

• Fishing License Taxes

• Gasoline Taxes

• Hotel Taxes

• Hunting License Taxes

• Inspection Fees

• Inventory Taxes

• Library Taxes

• Liquor Taxes

• Local School Taxes

• Professional Licenses And Fees

• Toll Booth Taxes

• Self-Employment Taxes

• Vehicle Registration Taxes

• Workers Compensation Taxes

And that’s not a implicit list.

Self, a fiscal exertion company, estimates that the mean American volition wage implicit $520,000 successful taxes successful their beingness — a 3rd of each earnings. That includes income taxes, spot taxes, and taxes connected everything from mundane expenses to the outgo of driving the astir fashionable conveyance (a Toyota RAV 4, which costs $38,889 successful taxes alone, based connected an mean of 4 purchased implicit a lifetime).

"However, owed to section spot markets, salaries, and authorities actions, immoderate states spot taxpayers paying adjacent much than the nationalist average," the investigation said.

New Jersey residents wage the astir taxes implicit their lifetimes ($987,117), portion those surviving successful West Virginia wage the slightest ($358,407), according to the Self report.