Tulsi Gabbard on taxes: what the evidence says · JRE #1295
SUBJECT: TAXES
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
with a company like Amazon, not only paying no taxes, I think this is for the third year in a row, and also getting, I think this last year was over $125 million tax credit.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Gabbard claimed Amazon paid no federal income tax for a third consecutive year and received a tax credit over $125 million the prior year. Public reporting based on Amazon's SEC filings shows the company paid $0 in U.S. federal income tax on more than $11 billion in pre-tax profit in 2018 and reported a federal tax rebate of $129 million that year, figures close to the amount Gabbard cited. However, 2018 was only the second consecutive year of $0 federal tax, not the third: 2017 was the first year Amazon paid no federal income tax, following a 2011-2016 period in which it paid federal income tax annually (about $944 million total on $8.2 billion of pre-tax income, an 11.4 percent effective rate). The dollar figure and the fact of no federal tax liability are well-supported, but the "third year in a row" framing overstates the length of the streak by one year.