Taxing Day For Amazon

Amazon will not pay any federal income taxes for the second year in a row, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Hill reports the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the online retailer, which reported $11.2 billion in profits in 2018, did not pay income tax because of unnamed “tax credits” in their disclosure.

The company will reportedly receive a $129 million federal income tax rebate, effectively making their tax rate -1 percent.

A spokesperson from Amazon challenged report, saying the company did in fact specify what tax credits they used and that the report made mistakes in calculating 2016 tax expenses.

“Amazon pays all the taxes we are required to pay in the U.S. and every country where we operate, including paying $2.6 billion in corporate tax and reporting $3.4 billion in tax expense over the last three years,” they said. “Corporate tax is based on profits, not revenues, and our profits remain modest given retail is a highly competitive, low-margin business and our continued heavy investment.”

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a liberal think tank, says the Trump administration's 2017 tax plan is partially responsible by failing to "broaden the tax base or close a slew of tax loopholes that allow profitable companies to routinely avoid paying federal and state income taxes on almost half of their profit."