19 Big Companies That Paid Close to Nothing in Taxes — or Got Refunds

AT&T

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AT&T

Big Business, Tiny Taxes

Did you feel the pinch when you had to cough up money for the tax man this year? Plenty of hugely successful companies didn't — or even got refunds — despite raking in billions. The 19 businesses listed here from an analysis by the Center for American Progress are just the companies in the Fortune 100 with the tiniest (or nonexistent) tax bills — other profitable businesses, like Salesforce and Netflix, also paid next to nothing. Here's a primer on what these corporations paid, if anything, and what they earned in the U.S. in 2021.  


Related: Warren Buffett Is Worth $100 Billion and Still Pays Less in Taxes Than You

Charter Communications
Wikimedia Commons
AIG
Wikimedia Commons

AIG

Effective tax rate: -2.2%


This massive insurance company certainly can't complain about its $98 billion in earnings, or its hefty tax refund of $216 million.


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Indianapolis - February 2016: Dow AgroSciences World Headquarters
jetcityimage/istockphoto
AT&T

AT&T

Effective tax rate: -4.1%


AT&T also got a nice gift from Uncle Sam despite just under $30 billion in earnings — a tax refund of a whopping $1.2 billion.

Bank of America
E_Y_E/istockphoto

Companies That Paid Less Than 5% in Taxes

Plenty of other companies didn't get refunds, but their tax rate is still a far cry from what average Joes are forced to fork over. Here are several big names that X found had an effective tax rate of under 5%.

  • General Motors: Effective tax rate of 0.2% on $9.4 billion in earnings
  • Ford: Effective tax rate of 1% on $10 billion in earnings
  • MetLife: Effective tax rate of 1.3% on $4.8 billion in earnings
  • Chevron: Effective tax rate of 1.8% on $9.5 billion in earnings
  • ExxonMobil: Effective tax rate of 2.8% on $9.3 billion in earnings 
  • Bank of America: Effective tax rate of 3.5% on $1.1 billion in earnings
  • Merck: Effective tax rate of 4% on $1.9 billion in earnings
  • FedEx: Effective tax rate of 4.2% on $4.7 billion in earnings

Verizon Wireless
LPETTET/istockphoto

Companies That Paid Less Than 10% in Taxes

These big names still paid under 10% in taxes despite raking in the billions:


  • JP Morgan Chase: Effective tax rate of 5.9% on $48.2 billion in earnings 
  • Nike: Effective tax rate of 5.9% on $5.6 billion in earrings
  • Amazon: Effective tax rate of 6.1% on $35.1 billion in earnings
  • Verizon: Effective tax rate of 6.9% on $27.2 billion in earnings
  • Coca-Cola: Effective tax rate of 7.1% on $3.4 billion in earnings
  • Microsoft: Effective tax rate of 9.7% on $33.7 billion in earnings

Related: Places Where the Rich Hide Money From the IRS