Jeff Bezos says bottom half of earners should pay zero in income taxes

by · CNBC

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Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos on Wednesday called for zero federal income taxes on the bottom half of earners.

The top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of all the tax revenue, and the bottom half pay 3%, Bezos told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box."

"I don't think it should be 3%," Bezos said. "I think it should be zero."

Bezos said the income tax paid by lower earners is "a small amount of money for the government," and offered the hypothetical example of a healthcare worker who makes $75,000 a year.

"We shouldn't be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington," he said. "They should be sending her an apology. It really makes no sense."

The average income tax rate in 2023 was 14.1%, according to a Tax Foundation analysis of the latest IRS data. The top 1% of taxpayers paid a 26.3% average rate, seven times higher than the 3.7% average rate paid by the bottom half of taxpayers.

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Bezos' comments come as a number of Democratic states explore higher taxes on the wealthy.

Several federal lawmakers have also recently introduced proposals to cut taxes for lower earners. Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., proposed the Keep Your Pay Act, which calls for the first $75,000 of income to be tax-free for households filing joint tax returns, with proportional tax relief for single filers and heads of households.

"No income tax on the first $75,000 families earn would be a game changer for working people," said Booker in a statement announcing the proposed legislation on March 9. "This tax cut would immediately put more money in your pocket every month to deal with the high price of everyday expenses, an unexpected emergency, or to plan for the future."

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