At least 88 corporations with $105 billion in profits paid no federal income tax

At least 88 of the largest corporations in America made more than $105 billion in profits last year and paid nothing in federal income taxes.

Zero.

The law says they should have paid 21 percent. That would have been $22.1 billion. Instead, the government sent them $4.7 billion in rebates. The total tax break for these 88 companies came to $26.7 billion.

The reason is two rounds of corporate tax cuts pushed through by President Donald Trump and Republicans. The first came in 2017. The second arrived last year in a bill called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The name is almost funny, if the numbers were not so grim.

Tesla made nearly $5.7 billion in U.S. income. Paid nothing. United Airlines made $4.3 billion. Paid nothing. Its competitor, Southwest, made $561 million. Nothing. Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, made over $1 billion. Nothing. Three digital payment companies — PayPal, Toast, and Block — collectively made $3.2 billion. Nothing.

The list goes on. Walt Disney, $8.3 billion in U.S. income, paid no federal tax. CVS Health, $6.6 billion, paid nothing. Cheniere Energy, almost $7 billion, nothing. Duke Energy, $5.5 billion, nothing.

The companies used a handful of legal loopholes. More than half used accelerated depreciation, a provision in the 2025 tax law that lets them immediately write off capital investments.

That alone saved them $11.4 billion. At least 40 used the research and experimentation credit, saving $1.6 billion. More than 30 used a new break that lets them write off R&D expenses immediately rather than over time. That cut their taxes by at least $4.4 billion.

A dozen companies used a tax break for executive stock options. Tesla and Palantir were among them.

The 88 corporations that paid no federal corporate income tax in 2025 spent nearly $852 million on political spending over the last three election cycles. This total includes $712 million in lobbying and $140 million in campaign contributions.

The tax returns of these corporations are not public, so no one can say exactly how each company zeroed out its bill. But the Securities and Exchange Commission now requires more detailed disclosures. The picture that emerges is clear. The system is rigged.

Before the two Trump tax cuts, the corporate rate was 35 percent. Measured against that old rate, these 88 companies avoided $41 billion in taxes in 2025 alone.

The pain flows downhill. State budgets are bleeding too. Because state tax rules generally follow federal definitions, these same 88 companies paid an effective state income tax rate of just 1.4 percent. The nationwide average state corporate rate is about 6 percent. That means these companies avoided paying taxes on roughly three-quarters of their U.S. income at the state level as well.

The report comes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which analyzed annual financial filings of the largest publicly traded U.S.-based corporations. It is not a complete list. Many companies with fiscal years that do not align with the calendar year have not yet filed. Some large privately held corporations are not required to disclose their taxes at all.

The federal income tax for corporations is 21%, meaning that these 88 companies collectively avoided $22.1 billion in taxes for FY 2025. On top of that, they collected $4.7 billion in tax rebates, bringing their total tax breaks to about $26.7 billion.

What is clear is that corporate tax avoidance has increased. The 2017 tax law started the bleeding. The 2025 law opened the wound wider.

Working families cannot deduct their rent or their groceries. They pay their full share on every paycheck. The wealthiest corporations in the country hire armies of accountants and lawyers to pay nothing on billions in profits.

The law allows it. The question is whether the people will continue to allow the law.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported that these corporations — among the largest in America — made more than $105 billion in profits last year and paid nothing in federal income taxes.

The list includes 3M of Minnesota with $1.84 billion in U.S. income, AdaptHealth of Pennsylvania with $66 million, Ameren of Missouri with $1.60 billion, American Electric Power of Ohio with $3.67 billion, Antero Resources of Colorado with $848 million, APA of Texas with $1.25 billion, ArcBest of Arkansas with $81 million, ARKO of Virginia with $19 million, ASGN of Virginia with $146 million, Atmos Energy of Texas with $1.46 billion, Autodesk of California with $674 million, Belden of Missouri with $82 million, Biogen of Massachusetts with $1.17 billion, Block of California with $1.52 billion.

These are also among the tax dodgers are: Brighthouse Financial of North Carolina with $475 million, BrightView Holdings of Pennsylvania with $76 million, Brink’s of Virginia with $62 million, Cheniere Energy of Texas with $6.97 billion, Citigroup of New York with $4.45 billion, Coinbase Global of Delaware with $1.62 billion, Costar Group of Virginia with $127 million, CVR Energy of Texas with $19 million, CVS Health of Rhode Island with $6.57 billion, Datadog of New York with $90 million, Dominion Energy of Virginia with $3.49 billion, Dropbox of California with $339 million, and DTE Energy of Michigan with $1.54 billion.

Other tax dodgers include: Duke Energy of North Carolina with $5.54 billion, Edison International of California with $6.22 billion, EQT of Pennsylvania with $2.67 billion, ESAB of Maryland with $35 million, Etsy of New York with $173 million, GoDaddy of Arizona with $981 million, Graphic Packaging of Georgia with $492 million, Halliburton of Texas with $773 million, Hasbro of Rhode Island with $364 million, Hillenbrand of Indiana with $24 million, Honeywell International of North Carolina with $845 million, HP of California with $98 million, Huntington Ingalls Industries of Virginia with $777 million, Illumina of California with $318 million, Jefferies Financial of New York with $597 million, Kaiser Aluminum of Tennessee with $136 million, and KBR of Texas with $242 million.

Also listed are Kohl’s of Wisconsin with $294 million, L3Harris Technologies of Florida with $1.65 billion, Liberty Energy of Colorado with $201 million, Liberty Media of Colorado with $288 million, Live Nation Entertainment of California with $98 million, Mastec of Florida with $450 million, MasterBrand of Ohio with $33 million, Mosaic of Florida with $142 million, NiSource of Indiana with $1.15 billion, NRG Energy of Texas with $1.03 billion, Palantir Technologies of Colorado with $1.58 billion, Parsons of Virginia with $372 million, and PayPal Holdings of California with $1.43 billion.

Rounding out the list are PennyMac Financial Services of California with $554 million, Petco Health and Wellness of California with $15 million, PG&E Corp. of California with $2.46 billion, Pitney Bowes of Connecticut with $151 million, Roku of California with $72 million, SAIC of Virginia with $375 million, Scotts Miracle-Gro of Ohio with $249 million, Seaboard of Kansas with $57 million, Sealed Air of North Carolina with $147 million, Sempra Energy of California with $853 million, Solventum of Minnesota with $555 million, Southwest Airlines of Texas