With portions of the Trump 2017 corporate tax giveaways set to expire in 2025, government watchdog Accountable.US and Americans for Tax Fairness today released a damning new report revealing how a small number of top corporations—including familiar names like Apple, Microsoft, and JP Morgan—bring in a huge amount of national profits while paying shockingly little in taxes. Per the analysis, these companies have the most at stake in the 2025 tax debate.
“Donald Trump’s singular legislative achievement in his first term was a massive tax giveaway to billionaires and giant corporations. This report makes clear just how much his ‘rich as hell’ donors expect to gain in return for funding his return to the White House,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “In the year ahead, I’m fighting for a tax code that works for American families instead of President Trump’s billionaire buddies.”
“Donald Trump and Republican politicians say they’re focused on American workers — but their number one priority is giving tax breaks to billionaires,” said Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas). “Progressives are ready to lead the fight against another Trump tax scam and make sure our tax system actually works for working people.”
“We’ve seen how Trump’s tax scam played out before—after promising to deliver for Main Street, he turned around and gave trillions in tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations,” said David Kass, ATF’s Executive Director. “Working and middle-class Americans are feeling the squeeze of rising living costs and intensifying corporate consolidation. These families will be hurt by Republicans’ plans to give trillions in additional tax cuts to make the rich richer and pay for it by cutting essential programs that families rely on like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It’s time to make these hugely successful companies pay their fair share.”
“The Trump tax scam failed working families with most of the benefits going to giant corporations like JP Morgan and Apple,” said Accountable.US’ Executive Director, Tony Carrk. “It’s time to stop the giveaways to companies that actively oppose raising worker wages and have price gouged Americans. We need a tax code that works best for working people, not just billionaires and wealthy corporations.”
Of the top 136 American companies on the 2023 global Fortune 500, just 10 are responsible for 46% of the total profits; and of nearly 600,000 US companies, 10 were responsible for 15% of all corporate taxes in 2021. Between 2018 and 2022, 25 companies reaped more than half of the tax code’s loopholes, benefits, and special breaks—giveaways worth more than $150 billion.
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
Alphabet (Google): Of the over $50 billion the top 15 corporate beneficiaries of the FDII loophole have received over the first six years of the Trump law, almost one-quarter (23.8%, or nearly $12 billion) was reaped by Alphabet alone.
Apple: Apple made $100 billion in profits in 2023–9% of all the profits made by all the corporations in the whole country. This one company paid about 2% of all the corporate taxes collected from all sources in 2021 and 2022. But it paid a tax rate of just 14.2% in that first year–a lower rate than the average American family paid (14.9%).
Bank of America: Over the first five years of the Trump tax law (2018-22), Bank of America enjoyed more tax-code subsidies–nearly $24 billion worth–than any other corporation. Those special breaks help explain how the bank paid a federal income-tax rate of just 3.8% on almost $139 billion in profits over that span. That’s less than a fifth of the statutory 21% rate and less than a quarter of the rate paid by the average American family in 2021 (14.9%).
Read the full report here.