Amazon paid no federal taxes again

Jeff Bezos’ sprawling e-commerce empire, Amazon, almost doubled its profits in 2018, but for the second year in a row paid zero dollars in federal income tax.

The world’s largest online retailer, which is worth $795 billion, earned a record $11.2 billion in US profits, according to the company’s US Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this month, yet did not pay the 21 percent US corporate tax, thanks to leveraging unspecified tax credits and stock-based compensation deductions.

Instead, as first reported by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Amazon received a federal income tax rebate of $129 million, essentially amounting to a tax rate of negative 1 percent.

Critics, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, slammed the Seattle-based company — one of the most successful in the world — for taking advantage of the tax code, all while it rakes in billions of dollars.

“Amazon made $16.8 billion in profits over the past two years but have paid ZERO in federal income taxes. In fact, it got a $269 million tax refund,” Sanders, a likely 2020 presidential candidate, wrote in a tweet. “Our job: Demand large corporations pay their fair share in taxes so that we can rebuild the disappearing middle class.”

It’s not the first time that Amazon has drawn scrutiny for its tax practices. Last year, the company drew in more than $5.6 billion in profits, but paid no federal income taxes. At the time, the company said it was largely attributable to “excess stock-based compensation deductions” and the effect of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.