Yes, Tesla reported zero federal income tax on its U.S. income for several recent years, despite generating billions in profits. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), the company had $2.3 billion in U.S. income in 2024 but paid no federal income tax, and over three years (2022-2024), paid only $48 million on $10.8 billion in profits, for a 0.4% rate.
Tesla Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2024, Despite $2.3 Billion in Income. This brings Tesla's average tax rate over the past three years to 0.4 percent. Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere.
However, in a post Monday on X, Musk suggested Direct File had been “deleted” as part of his campaign against government overspending. The program's website was still up Wednesday morning, although an X account for an associated IRS agency was down.
Musk paid $455 million in taxes on $1.52 billion of income between 2014 and 2018. According to ProPublica, Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018. He stated his 2021 tax bill was estimated at $12 billion based on his sale of $14 billion worth of Tesla stock.
Taking Advantage of Capital Gains, Not Salary
One of the biggest reasons Bezos pays little in personal income tax is that he doesn't rely on a traditional salary. Instead, he holds most of his wealth in Amazon stock. Here's why this matters: Capital gains taxes are much lower than income taxes in most cases.
In some years, billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and George Soros paid no federal income taxes at all. Billionaires avoid these taxes by taking out special ultra-low-interest loans available only to them and using their assets as collateral.
Yes, Jeff Bezos famously kept his Amazon base salary at around $80,000 per year for decades, choosing to take most of his compensation through stock options, which grew immensely as the company succeeded, making him one of the world's wealthiest individuals without a high executive paycheck. He felt he had enough incentive as a major owner and preferred building wealth by increasing the value of his existing equity rather than taking more salary or bonuses.
New York tax expert Robert Willens tells Barron's that Zuckerberg faces a 23.8% federal tax bite—20% federal tax on dividend income and a 3.8% Medicare surcharge—plus the top 13.3% state income-tax rate in California.
There are several ways to reduce tax bills and pay no taxes legally, and one of the easiest ways is to take full advantage of a self-employment tax deduction scheme. In the US, this deduction allows you to deduct a portion of your self-employed income from your taxable profit, provided there are allowable expenses.
ELON MUSK: "I'm the largest individual taxpayer in history, so I paid $10 billion in tax."
The Trump White House announced that it would end the service in April 2025 and confirmed the closure last November. In place of Direct File, the administration is directing people to “IRS Free File,” a collection of free services from the same tax preparation corporations.
“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” Albert Einstein hit the nail on the head with this oft-repeated quote. The U.S. Tax Code is long, complex, and ever-changing. This is especially true for people with higher incomes, changing life circumstances, and families to consider.
U.S. Tesla saved half a billion in taxes last year using accelerated depreciation. Tax breaks for executive stock options shaved a quarter billion off the company's tax bill. Unspecified “U.S. tax credits” were good for $300 million of tax savings.
Additional information: Bezos paid zero federal income taxes in both 2007 and 2011. From 2006 to 2018, when Bezos' wealth increased by $127 billion, he reported a total of $6.5 billion in income. He paid $1.4 billion in personal federal taxes, a true tax rate of 1.1%.
The IRS 7-year rule primarily applies to keeping records for claiming a deduction for bad debts or losses from worthless securities, allowing a longer period to file for a credit or refund, but it's not a universal audit limit; it's often a recommended safe buffer for general record-keeping, with the standard IRS audit period usually being 3 years, extending to 6 years for substantial income omission (over 25%) or foreign income issues, and indefinitely for fraud.
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Googlers call Zuckerberg's approach the 80 percent rule
She calls this idea the 80 percent rule. It states you should schedule only about 80 percent of your days. Leave 20 percent open to absorb whatever craziness comes up.
Mark Zuckerberg famously became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 23 in 2008 after Facebook went public, though more recently, in late 2025, a trio of 22-year-olds (Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha) from the AI company Mercor beat his record, becoming the youngest self-made tech billionaires.
Jeff Bezos graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a 4.2 GPA in electrical engineering and computer science, graduating summa cum laude and earning memberships in honor societies like Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi.