What percentage of US citizens do not pay any income tax?

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About 30.5% to 40% of American households or tax filers pay no federal individual income tax, depending on the specific metric and year.

Key Statistics

  • Tax Filers: According to data from USAFacts, roughly 30.5% of tax filers owed no federal individual income tax.
  • Households: The Tax Policy Center estimates that about 37% to 40% of total U.S. households (including non-filers) have no federal income tax liability.
  • Income Levels: About 70% of those who owe no income tax earn under $50,000 per year. Low liability is driven by standard deductions, personal exemptions, and refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit.

Other Taxes Paid

Not paying federal income tax does not mean paying no taxes.

  • Most non-payers work and pay payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare.
  • Households also pay state and local income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and federal excise taxes on items like gasoline.

Is it true 40 percent of Americans don't pay taxes?

Yes, it is true that around 40% of U.S. households pay zero federal individual income tax, but this stat only applies to that specific tax and does not mean these Americans pay no taxes at all.

Key Facts About the 40% Statistic

  • Federal Income Tax Only: According to data from the Tax Policy Center, roughly 40% of American households have no federal individual income tax liability.
  • Main Reasons: Most of these households have low incomes, or their liability is reduced to zero by standard deductions and tax credits like the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
  • Demographics: The vast majority of non-payers earn under $60,000 per year, or are elderly, disabled, or low-income working families.

Do They Pay Other Taxes?

Yes. The idea that these households pay "no taxes" is a widespread myth:

  • Payroll Taxes: Nearly all of these households work or have worked, paying federal payroll taxes (such as Social Security and Medicare) out of their wages.
  • State and Local Taxes: They also pay state income taxes, local property taxes (either directly or through rent), and state or local sales taxes on everyday purchases.

What percentage of Americans pay 90% of taxes?

The top 50% of American income earners pay over 90% of federal individual income taxes.

Federal Income Tax Breakdown

According to data from the Tax Foundation, the federal income tax burden is heavily concentrated among higher earners:

  • Top 50% of Earners: Pay roughly 97% of all federal individual income taxes.
  • Bottom 50% of Earners: Pay about 3% of federal individual income taxes.
  • Top 25% of Earners: Pay around 89% of federal income taxes.
  • Top 10% of Earners: Pay about 71% to 76% of federal income taxes.
  • Top 1% of Earners: Pay about 40% of federal income taxes, which is more than the bottom 90% combined.

Important Context

  • Federal Income Tax Only: These statistics apply specifically to federal individual income taxes. They do not include payroll taxes (like Social Security and Medicare), state and local taxes, or sales taxes, which are less progressive and affect lower-income Americans at higher proportional rates.
  • Adjusted Gross Income: The top 50% of taxpayers earn the vast majority—roughly 90%—of total adjusted gross income (AGI).

How much tax does Elon Musk pay?

Elon Musk pays personal income taxes based on realized events like stock option exercises and stock sales rather than his total wealth growth.

Individual Tax Payments

  • The 2021 Record: Musk paid an estimated $11 billion in taxes in 2021 after exercising millions of expiring Tesla stock options. This stands as one of the largest single-year individual tax bills in U.S. history.
  • Historical Rates: A leaked IRS data analysis by ProPublica showed that between 2014 and 2018, Musk reported $1.52 billion in income and paid $455 million in federal income taxes—an effective "true tax rate" of 3.27% relative to his wealth growth during those years, paying zero federal income tax in 2018.
  • Future Expectations: Musk stated in interviews that he expects to pay roughly 45% on stock options and significant estate taxes upon death, leaving a fraction of his overall accumulated assets.

Company Taxes (Tesla)

  • Corporate Rate: Critics, including the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, report that Tesla paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 0.4% over a three-year stretch, reporting billions in U.S. income while utilizing credits and deductions to reduce current federal income tax liability to near-zero.

How many people are refusing to pay federal taxes?

There is no exact total count of people refusing to pay federal taxes as a form of political protest, but historical estimates from groups like the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee suggest that roughly 3,000 to 8,000 Americans actively withhold or refuse federal income taxes each year due to their beliefs.

While social media attention and groups tracking the movement (such as the War Resisters League) have reported a surge in workshop attendance, online inquiries, and viral videos protesting military spending and government policies, the total number remains a tiny fraction of overall taxpayers.

Key Details on the Movement

  • Scale: Groups monitoring war tax resistance note that while interest spikes during major military conflicts or political shifts, only a small, dedicated community engages in deliberate non-payment. (By contrast, millions of low-income or eligible households legally owe no federal income tax due to standard deductions and tax credits, which is a structural feature of the tax code rather than a form of protest).
  • Methods: Protesters typically use methods such as filing tax returns without paying the balance due, adjusting withholding allowances, or redirecting the equivalent funds to charities and community organizations.
  • Risks: Tax professionals and the IRS emphasize that intentional non-payment is illegal. Consequences include severe financial penalties, interest accrual, wage garnishments, federal tax liens, seized bank accounts or property, and potential criminal prosecution.

Should You Move to a State with No Income Tax? (Pros and Cons)

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How many US citizens pay no taxes?

Virtually all US citizens pay taxes in some form, but roughly 30% to 40% of households pay no federal individual income tax depending on the year.

Because the US tax code separates income tax from other types of taxes, it is important to distinguish between those who owe nothing on their tax returns and those who pay no taxes at all.

Federal Income Tax vs. Total Taxes

When people discuss Americans who "pay no taxes," they are almost always referring specifically to the federal individual income tax. According to estimates and historical data from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and National Taxpayers Union Foundation:

  • Federal Income Tax: For 2025, approximately 39.6% of households (or about 76 million tax units) are projected to owe $0 in federal individual income tax. For tax filers specifically, data from 2023 showed that 30.5% of filers (roughly 49 million people) had no federal income tax liability after standard deductions and tax credits.
  • Other Federal & Local Taxes: The vast majority of these same households still pay other forms of taxation. Roughly two-thirds of working households who don't pay income tax still pay payroll taxes (FICA) to fund Social Security and Medicare. Additionally, nearly everyone pays state or local sales taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, and excise taxes.
  • Net-Zero Taxes: When factoring in payroll taxes and other forms of federal revenue, the share of households that truly pay zero net federal taxes drops significantly to around 17% to 19%.

Who are the non-payers?

The demographic makeup of households that pay no federal income tax breaks down into a few main categories:

  1. Low-Income Earners: The single largest factor is income level. The standard deduction (which shields the first portion of income from being taxed) combined with refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) reduces tax liability to zero for most low-wage workers.
  2. Families with Children: Broad tax credits like the Child Tax Credit often offset any federal income tax liabilities for middle- and lower-income families.
  3. Seniors and Retirees: More than 20% of non-paying households are adults aged 65 or older living on modest fixed incomes, as standard Social Security benefits are often excluded from taxable income thresholds.
  4. High-Income Outliers: A very small percentage (under 0.5%) of millionaires or high earners occasionally pay $0 in a given year due to massive business losses, write-offs, or complex tax deductions.

How much did Jeff Bezos pay in income taxes?

Jeff Bezos paid approximately $1.4 billion in total personal federal income taxes between 2006 and 2018.

However, his exact tax liability fluctuates wildly from year to year depending on his reported income versus his wealth growth:

  • Years with Zero Tax Liability: A comprehensive investigation by ProPublica revealed that Bezos paid $0 in federal income taxes in both 2007 and 2011. In 2011, his investment losses officially offset his recorded income so steeply that he legally claimed—and received—a $4,000 child tax credit.
  • Reported Income vs. Wealth Growth: Between 2006 and 2018, Bezos reported $6.5 billion in total income to the IRS. While the $1.4 billion he paid on that income amounts to a standard 21.5% conventional tax rate, his actual net worth grew by $127 billion during that exact same timeframe.
  • The "True Tax Rate": Because U.S. tax law only taxes realized income (assets that have been sold) rather than unsold stock growth, Bezos's federal income tax payments amounted to a "true tax rate" of just 1.1% relative to his overall wealth growth during that 12-year window. In a narrower window from 2014 to 2018, he paid $973 million in taxes on $4.22 billion of reported income, representing a true tax rate of 0.98% against $99 billion in wealth expansion.
  • Recent Stock Sales: When Bezos executes massive liquidations—such as selling $13.6 billion in Amazon shares in 2024—he incurs substantial capital gains taxes, paying an estimated $2.7 billion on those specific transactions.

Do pastors pay social security?

Yes, pastors do pay Social Security, but they pay it as self-employed workers under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) rather than the standard FICA system.

How Pastor Social Security Works

  • Dual Status: Even if a church issues a W-2 for income taxes, pastors are treated as self-employed for Social Security and Medicare.
  • The Tax Rate: Pastors pay the full 15.3% self-employment tax rate (12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare) on their net ministerial earnings and housing allowance.
  • No Withholding: Churches cannot legally withhold or pay the employer portion of FICA taxes for ordained ministers. Pastors must handle these payments themselves, typically through quarterly estimated tax payments.
  • Social Security Allowance: Many churches help offset this high cost by giving their pastor a Social Security Allowance, which covers at least 50% of the tax burden. This allowance counts as extra taxable income.

Are There Exemptions?

  • Religious Exemption: A pastor can apply for an irrevocable exemption from Self-Employment tax through the IRS.
  • Strict Rules: To qualify, they must be conscientiously or religiously opposed to public insurance benefits, and approval is rare.

How much has Trump paid in taxes in the last 10 years?

Donald Trump paid a total of approximately $1.2 million in federal income taxes across the years 2015 through 2020, based on official House Ways and Means Committee tax data. Publicly available official records are limited primarily to this 2015–2020 window.

Breakdown by Year (2015–2020)

  • 2015: $0 (reported negative income)
  • 2016: $750
  • 2017: $750
  • 2018: $999,466
  • 2019: $133,445
  • 2020: $0 (claimed a refund of $5.47 million)

Key Details

  • Prior Years: According to a comprehensive The New York Times investigation of prior tax data, Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the 15 years leading up to his presidency, largely offset by reported business losses.
  • Data Limits: Complete, verified official tax records for the full past decade (2016–2026) have not been publicly disclosed outside of the specific 2015–2020 returns released by Congress.

Which billionaires paid no federal taxes?

Leaked ProPublica Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data showed that several prominent billionaires paid $0 in federal income taxes in specific years.

  • Jeff Bezos: Paid zero federal income taxes in 2007 and 2011.
  • Elon Musk: Paid zero federal income taxes in 2018.
  • Michael Bloomberg: Paid zero in multiple recent years.
  • George Soros: Paid zero for three consecutive years.
  • Carl Icahn: Paid zero in two separate years.

How They Pay Zero Tax

  • Low Wages: Wealthiest individuals often take very small direct salaries (e.g., a $1 salary).
  • Unrealized Gains: Most of their wealth is tied up in stock, which is not taxed until sold.
  • Borrowing Against Assets: They fund personal lifestyles and purchases by taking low-interest loans using stock as collateral, which avoids triggering capital gains.
  • Deductions: Investment losses, interest deductions on loans, and charitable donations offset what little taxable income they report.