Based on recent reports, SpaceX has likely paid little to no federal income taxes since its founding in 2002, despite receiving billions in government contracts. Internal documents indicate the company uses a "net operating loss carryforward" benefit, allowing it to apply over $5 billion in early losses to offset future profits.
Documents also show SpaceX paid some income taxes in recent years, including $483,000 to foreign governments and $78,000 in state tax in 2021, plus $6,000 in 2020–21 without specifying the jurisdiction, whether local, state or federal.
Government contracts to SpaceX from NASA and the Defense Department make up the majority of funds.
SpaceX has received billions of dollars in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits, estimated at least $38 billion over the past two decades. This includes a significant amount from NASA and the Department of Defense.
Back in 2007 and 2011, Bezos didn't pay any federal income taxes, according to a 2021 ProPublica review of decades of IRS data belonging to America's wealthiest businessmen.
Yes, Jeff Bezos famously paid himself a modest salary of around $80,000 per year at Amazon for about two decades, choosing equity over large paychecks to align with his founder's mindset and drive wealth through increased company value, not more salary. He felt his significant ownership stake provided ample incentive, and he was proud of this decision, which allowed him to avoid higher taxes while his stock value soared.
Tesla paid $0 in federal income tax last year. 2022: $0 2021: $0 2020: $0 2019: $0 2018: $0 Tesla reported $6.7 billion in profit in those years.
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.
Elon Musk donated over $288 million to support Donald Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election cycle, primarily through his own super PAC, America PAC, making him a major political financier. While he gave millions directly to Trump-aligned super PACs like MAGA Inc. and party committees, most funds went to America PAC for get-out-the-vote efforts in swing states, with significant contributions coming in late 2024.
Elon Musk is the largest shareholder of SpaceX, holding a significant majority stake, estimated around 42-54% of equity and controlling most of the voting rights, while key institutional investors like Founders Fund, Alphabet (Google), and Fidelity Investments hold substantial minority stakes.
NASA will have a spacecraft from Elon Musk's SpaceX guide the International Space Station's destruction after its retirement in 2030. The agency awarded an $843 million contract to SpaceX to build the so-called "U.S. Deorbit Vehicle."
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.
SpaceX has received at least $1 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits each year since 2016, and between $2 billion and $4 billion a year from 2021 to 2024 – while Tesla has received over $1 billion a year since 2020, the Post found.
“I'm the largest individual tax payer in history. I pay over $10 billion in tax." — Elon Musk says.
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.
The IRS $600 rule refers to a change in reporting requirements for third-party payment apps (like Venmo, PayPal) for taxable income from goods and services, where platforms must send a Form 1099-K if you receive over $600 in a year, intended to capture gig economy/side hustle income, though delays and phased implementation have adjusted the timeline, with current rules for 2024 using a higher threshold ($5,000) before fully phasing to $600 for future years, but remember all taxable income, regardless of form, must always be reported.
“Tesla: The company has used mechanisms like deferred tax assets, research and development credits, and massive deductions from Elon Musk's stock-based compensation to reduce its U.S. federal income tax to near zero in profitable years.”
Jeff Bezos's 1-Hour Rule is a morning routine focused on avoiding screens (phones, laptops) for the first hour of the day, allowing for slow, deliberate activities like reading, having coffee, exercising, or spending time with family, which he claims enhances focus, energy, and decision-making, a practice supported by neuroscience for promoting clearer thinking and reducing digital fatigue.
Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has this rule: no team meeting should be so large that two pizzas can't feed the whole group. This is, of course, a shorthand method for ensuring that, as is often the case with big groups, no one's ideas get drowned out.
Jeff Bezos was 35 years old when he became a billionaire in 1999, as the skyrocketing value of his Amazon shares propelled him from millionaire status, having already hit millionaire status at 33 after Amazon's IPO in 1997.