Jeff Bezos Says Bottom 50% Should Pay No Income Taxes—Will Advocate With Trump

BreakingBusinessJeff Bezos Says Bottom 50% Should Pay No Income Taxes—Will Advocate With TrumpByTy Roush,Forbes Staff. Ty Roush is a breaking news reporter based in New York City.Follow AuthorMay 20, 2026, 10:41am EDTToplineThe lower half of earners in the U.S. should pay zero federal income tax, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday, indicating he would advocate for the tax cut with President Donald Trump, as some states have proposed taxes for the wealthiest citizens. “We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington,” the Amazon chairman said. Getty ImagesKey FactsThe bottom 50% of earners in the U.S. account for 3% of all tax revenue, Bezos told CNBC, adding, “I think it should be zero.”The average income tax rate was 14.1% in 2023, and the top 1% of taxpayers paid an average rate of 26.3% while the bottom half—who earned about $24,500 on average in gross income—paid an average rate of 3.7%, according to an analysis of the latest IRS data by the Tax Foundation, a tax research think tank.Income tax revenue from the lowest earners accounts for a “small amount of money for the government,” Bezos said, adding, “We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology. It really makes no sense.”Bezos, who used the example of an Amazon worker in New York earning $50,000 annually, called the idea of taxing them “absurd,” arguing, “Why are you taxing them so much?”Bezos said he would advocate for the tax cuts with Trump, arguing his position would “actually help people.” if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//cd.elements.video/player.js?cid=62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a'; script.setAttribute('defer', '1'); script.setAttribute('type'...