Amazon paid $0 in federal income tax in 2018, despite record profits

Despite doubling its profits in 2018, Amazon did not pay a cent of federal income tax for the second consecutive year, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The big picture: Amazon actually received a rebate of $129 million — or an effective tax rate of -1% — thanks to tax credits and other breaks stemming from the GOP's 2017 tax cuts. The Washington Post's Chris Ingraham notes that while Amazon earned $11.2 billion in profit last year, it was able to pay a lower federal tax rate (1.5% in 2015) than the bottom 20% of American households.

Amazon spokesperson Jodi Seth said in a statement:

"Amazon pays all the taxes we are required to pay in the U.S. and every country where we operate, including paying $2.6 billion in corporate tax and reporting $3.4 billion in tax expense over the last three years. We have invested more than $160 billion in the U.S. since 2011, building a network of more than 125 fulfillment and sortation centers, air hubs and delivery stations as well as cloud-computing infrastructure and wind and solar farms."

Go deeper: An uncertain future for corporate tax breaks