Tesla paid virtually no federal income tax on billions in U.S. profits recently, reporting $0 in 2024 on $2.3 billion income and just $48 million total over 2022-2024 on $10.8 billion income, an effective rate of 0.4%, primarily due to tax credits, stock options, and net operating loss carryforwards from earlier losses.
In 2024, Tesla reported $2.3 billion in U.S. income yet paid zero federal income tax. Over the past three years, the company earned $10.8 billion domestically and paid only $48 million in federal taxes, resulting in an effective tax rate of just 0.4%, significantly below the statutory corporate tax rate of 21%.
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.
Musk also sold a small fraction of the additional shares he already owned, sales that fetched a taxable $5.8 billion at a lower capital gains rate. Together those stock trades likely resulted in roughly an $11 billion federal tax bill, which he has tweeted about.
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, Elon Musk's foundation gave $55 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in 2021, following his public pledge of $50 million during the Inspiration4 space mission to help the hospital reach its fundraising goals, contributing to a total of over $200 million raised by the mission.
Tesla Current Federal Income Tax Rates, 2022-2024
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.
Jeff Bezos pays a very low effective federal income tax rate, often under 1%, because most of his wealth comes from untaxed stock appreciation, not taxable income like wages; a 2014-2018 analysis showed he paid roughly $1.4 billion in federal taxes on a $127 billion wealth increase (a ~1.1% rate). He has even paid zero federal income tax in certain years (like 2007 and 2011) by using investment losses and deductions, legally deferring taxes on stock growth until sold, which he often avoids by taking low-interest loans against his shares.
“I'm the largest individual tax payer in history. I pay over $10 billion in tax." — Elon Musk says.
Musk Remains the World's Richest Person. Elon Musk maintained his position as the world's wealthiest person, with his net worth estimated at $627 billion by Bloomberg and $750 billion by Barron's. Larry Page's net worth reached $270 billion, moving him to second place due to Alphabet's AI business growth.
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.
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.
Al Capone. A federal grand jury indicted notorious gangster Al Capone, leader of the Chicago Outfit crime syndicate, with 22 counts of tax evasion totaling over $200,000 in 1931 (equivalent to more $3.8 million today).
Pop superstar Beyoncé and the IRS agree that she owes $709.20 in tax and penalties instead of the nearly $2.7 million that the agency had asserted in a deficiency notice, according to a stipulated decision approved by the Tax Court . The decision document in Knowles-Carter v.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, famously traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas on May 22, 2010, marking the first documented commercial transaction for physical goods with cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but the value of those coins would later grow to be worth hundreds of millions, even over a billion dollars, making it one of history's most expensive pizzas.
Despite extreme volatility, Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed 1,060% in the past five years as I write this. This monster gain would've turned a $10,000 initial capital outlay in October 2020 to a whopping $115,700 on Oct. 6.
The growth of a $100 investment in Bitcoin
If you had invested $100 in Bitcoin 10 years ago, you would have about $20,000 today, as the leading cryptocurrency has grown by nearly 20,000% (as of Dec.