Jeff Bezos publicly called on May 20, 2026, for the bottom half of income earners in the U.S. to pay no federal income taxes, arguing the current system unfairly taxes lower earners while the rich shoulder most of the load [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Bezos said the top 1% of taxpayers currently pay about 40% of all federal income tax revenue, while the bottom half pay only 3% of the total [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In 2023, the average income tax rate was 14.1%, with the top 1% paying an average of 26.3% and the bottom half paying just 3.7% [1, 3, 4].
Using the example of a nurse in Queens earning $75,000 annually, Bezos said it was "absurd" she pays over $1,000 a month in taxes. He argued that low earners like her deserved an apology, not a tax bill. "Why is a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year paying more than $1,000 a month in taxes? That's $1,000 that could help with rent, or groceries, or anything... To me, it’s kind of absurd that we’re doing this. We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology," Bezos said [2, 3, 5].
Bezos also criticized calls for raising taxes on the wealthy to fund working-class needs. He said the U.S. has "a spending problem, not a revenue problem," and that the tax system is already the most progressive worldwide. "We already have the most progressive tax system in the world. The top 1 percent of taxpayers pay 40 percent of all the tax revenue," he said [2]. Bezos plans to advocate for eliminating income taxes on the bottom half alongside President Donald Trump [3].
He argued taxing the bottom half of taxpayers makes little fiscal sense given their small contribution to total revenue. The bottom half had an adjusted gross income near $54,000 in 2023, according to official data [1, 3, 4]. Starting salaries for New York City teachers ranged from $68,902 to $77,455 as of September 2025, with increases scheduled for September 2026 [4]. Mayor Zohran Mamdani criticized Bezos' stance, saying teachers in Queens "would beg to differ" on his claim that higher taxes on billionaires do not help working-class New Yorkers [4].
There is some disagreement about the average income of the bottom half of taxpayers, with estimates ranging from around $24,500 to nearly $54,000 [3, 4]. Bezos called for a tax rate of zero on the bottom half, stating, "I don't think it should be 3%. I think it should be zero" and "There's something very powerful about zero" [1, 5].
Bezos' proposal reignites debate over the fairness and structure of the U.S. federal income tax system. New York City teacher salaries are set to rise in September 2026, with starting pay reaching $71,314 for bachelor's degree holders and $80,166 for those with a master's [4].
