Mark Zuckerberg's federal tax payments vary, but a 2013-2018 report indicated he paid roughly $536 million in federal income taxes over that period. While his effective tax rate on reported income was estimated at 13.7%, the "true tax rate" relative to his wealth growth was only 1.1%.
Net worth: $268.1 billion Est tax bill: $13.4 bil
For now at least, he appears to still own two homes in Palo Alto, California, worth around $33 million.
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%.
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. Tesla paid $0 in federal income tax last year.
Yes, it is illegal to intentionally not pay federal taxes, as the U.S. tax system requires compliance, and failing to pay can lead to severe civil penalties (fines, interest, wage garnishment) and criminal charges (tax evasion, imprisonment), even if the system is described as "voluntary" due to self-assessment. While simple failure to file due to oversight might result in penalties, deliberate evasion, underreporting income, or making frivolous legal arguments against paying are criminal offenses.
In fact, the list of billionaires paying $0 in income tax reads like a who's-who of the world's most famous executives. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for example, are the two wealthiest people in the world, according to the Forbes Billionaires' List.
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.
In 2022, ProPublica reported his annual average income from 2013 to 2018 was $2.85 billion, and his annual federal income tax rate was 18.4% — meaning he would have paid about $525 million in federal income tax each year, according to BI calculations. He's not one to complain, though.
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.
Levying means that the IRS can confiscate and sell property to satisfy a tax debt. This property could include your car, boat, or real estate. The IRS may also levy assets such as your wages, bank accounts, Social Security benefits, and retirement income.
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.
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According to data from the job search information website Zippia, the average lifetime income of an average person is about 2.7 million US dollars, while Gates's daily income is about 3 to 4 times this figure. According to estimates, Gates earns about $10.95 million a day, which is equivalent to about $117 per second.
States With the Highest Income Taxes
The states with the highest marginal tax rates include California, Hawaii, New York and the District of Columbia. Here are the states with the top 10 marginal tax rates in the U.S. in 2025: California (13.3%) Hawaii (11%)
For the year 2024, according to a Forbes estimate, Bezos paid about $2.7 billion in tax on the gain from his sale of $13.6 billion worth of Amazon stock. That stock — the heart of the Bezos fortune since he started Amazon in 1994 — originally cost him no more than $13,600.
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).
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.
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.