Jeff Bezos Proposes Zero Federal Income Tax for Bottom Half of Earners

U.S. earners should pay no federal income tax. He made the comments Wednesday during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Bezos noted that the bottom half of taxpayers currently pay about 3 percent of total federal income tax revenue. He said that share should be zero.

Bezos used the example of a nurse in Queens earning $75,000 a year. He said the worker should not have to send more than $1,000 a month in taxes to Washington. He described the amount as a small sum for the government and said the change would help people starting out or struggling financially.

Bezos said he has worked with every president since Bill Clinton and would advocate for the idea with current leaders.

2023 the bottom half of taxpayers had average adjusted gross income near $54,000 and paid an average of $913 in federal income tax, according to Tax Foundation analysis of IRS data. Bezos said even doubling his own tax bill would not help lower-income workers and pointed instead to government spending inefficiencies.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani responded on X that some teachers in Queens would disagree with Bezos’s view on taxes. Bezos criticized the length and complexity of the current tax code and called parts of it crony capitalism that should be fixed. He also defended his own tax payments, stating he pays billions of dollars annually to the federal government.