Amazon’s tax bill plunges after GOP tax cuts

Republicans’ tax cuts shaved billions off Amazon’s tax bill, new government filings show.

The company says it ran a $1.2 billion tax bill last year, down from $9 billion the previous year, and even as its profits jumped by 45 percent to nearly $90 billion.

That’s largely because of the generous new depreciation breaks GOP lawmakers included in their One Big Beautiful Bill, something that’s particularly important to Amazon which — in addition to maintaining a vast infrastructure for its ubiquitous delivery business — has been spending billions to build out artificial intelligence data centers.

Also helping, though less important: The law’s expanded breaks for businesses research and development expenses.

The company has long been criticized by Democrats for paying little in tax, and it appeared to be bracing for criticism in the wake of the report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Last year, Congress made changes to the tax code to encourage greater investment in the American economy, its innovation, and its workers — all areas where Amazon has long been a leader” the company said Friday.

“Our tax bill this year reflects those changes by Congress.”

The company estimates it invested $340 billion in the U.S. last year.

Under financial accounting rules, the company says its effective tax rate was actually 19.6 percent in 2025, though that doesn’t include the effect of increased depreciation writeoffs because those are essentially timing shifts that allow companies to take more deductions now in exchange for fewer in the future.

“Deducting our costs more quickly provides a short-run benefit but this policy ultimately doesn’t change the amount of tax we pay,” Amazon said. “It just changes the timing of our tax payments.”

In terms of actual cash payments Amazon made to the Treasury Department last year for income taxes, which can include payments for prior year’s taxes, the company says it handed over $2.75 billion, down from $7.63 billion in 2024.

The company did not pay the corporate alternative minimum tax, and has never reported paying the levy, though Democrats created it in hopes of forcing companies like Amazon to pay more.

CLARIFICATION: This story was updated with a more precise figure for the amount of federal income tax Amazon paid in 2024 and 2025.