By Leada Gore
al.com
(TNS)
Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos said he supports eliminating federal income taxes on the bottom half of earners.
Speaking with CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on “Squawk Box,” Bezos said the top 1% of taxpayers pay about 40% of all tax revenue while the bottom half pay 3%.
“I don’t think it should be 3%. I think it should be zero,” Bezos said. “When people are starting out and they’re struggling, stop taxing them. We don’t need it. We live in the wealthiest country in the world.”
“We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington,” he added. “They should be sending her an apology. It really makes no sense.”
Citing the Tax Foundation, CNBC reported the bottom half of taxpayers had an adjusted gross income of just under $54,000 in 2023. Households in the top 1% earned at least $676,000.
Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest person, has a net worth of around $269 billion.
According to the Tax Foundation, the average income tax rate in 2023 was 14.1% with the top 1% paying an average rate of 26.3%. The bottom half of all taxpayers paid an average of 3.7%.
The top 50% of all taxpayers paid nearly 97% of all federal income taxes, the analysis showed.
Photo caption: Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos (Reuters/YouTube)
_______
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit al.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Sign in to get access to this free resource, and all of our whitepapers and reports.
Download this content today!
Register Now Already registered? Click here to Log In
Tags: Income Taxes, Jeff Bezos, Taxes, wealthy
