The Current Price of Zero
The 88 Corporations That Paid Zero in Federal Income Taxes Spent $852 Million on Political Spending
By Eileen O'Grady
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that at least 88 of the nation’s largest corporations paid zero federal corporate income tax in fiscal year 2025, despite reporting a combined $105 billion in US pretax income.[1]
The federal income tax for corporations is 21%, meaning that these 88 companies collectively avoided $22.1 billion in taxes for FY 2025. On top of that, they collected $4.7 billion in tax rebates, bringing their total tax breaks to about $26.7 billion.
The 88 corporations’ tax avoidance is in part enabled by two pieces of legislation pushed by the Trump administration: the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which opponents have dubbed the “Big Ugly Law.” ITEP identifies several common strategies the companies used to get tax breaks and rebates, some of which were cemented in these laws. The most commonly used corporate tax giveaway, accelerated depreciation, enabled more than half of the companies to collectively avoid $11.4 billion in taxes by allowing them to write off capital investments immediately. In addition, a tax break supercharged under the Big Ugly Law allowed more than 30 companies to immediately write off research and development expenses, which alone netted them at least $4.4 billion in savings.
For this report, we look beyond the mechanics of corporate tax avoidance to explore a central driver: political spending intended to influence tax laws and policy.
Using data from OpenSecrets, which compiles and publishes campaign finance and lobbying data, we found that from the 2020 election cycle through the 2024 cycle, these 88 companies have spent nearly $852 million on lobbying and campaign contributions. We highlight the companies that spent the most money on lobbying, hired the most lobbyists, lobbied specifically on tax issues, and contributed the most cash to political campaigns.
Our key findings include[2]:
- The 88 corporations that paid no federal corporate income tax in 2025 spent nearly $852 million on political spending over the last three election cycles. This total includes $712 million in lobbying and $140 million in campaign contributions.
- Comparing the taxes the corporations saved against the cost of their political spending, they collectively made a 3,000% return on investment.
- Coinbase Global spent the most of any company ($89 million) followed by CVS Health ($66 million), Honeywell International ($56 million), American Electric Power ($47 million), and Duke Energy ($35 million).
- On average each year, these companies together have sent 1,119 lobbyists to influence the federal government, including on tax issues and legislation that changed the tax code in favor of corporate giveaways.
- Since the beginning of 2025, these companies have collectively laid off at least 21,200 workers and announced plans to lay off thousands more.
Our findings suggest that while Republicans lawmakers rewrote the tax code to enshrine massive giveaways to wealthy corporations, those same corporate tax dodgers poured millions into lobbying and political campaigns that yielded further tax breaks, which in turn has bankrolled even more political influence. The result is a self-reinforcing loop where corporate cash buys policy, and policy pays cash back.
The Current Price of Zero: $852 Million in Political Spending
The 88 companies that avoided taxation altogether in 2025 spent a staggering $852 million on political spending in the past three election cycles. Those companies saved $22 billion compared with what they would have paid if their profits had been taxed at the statutory rate. Adding in the $4.7 billion they collected in tax rebates brings their total tax breaks to about $26.7 billion.
If we calculate the companies’ collective return on investment—in this case, a ratio of their net profit as the taxes they saved relative to their political spending—they made a 3,000% return.[3]
Along with lobbying data, Public Citizen analyzed contributions made by corporate PACs—and in some cases, the companies themselves—to candidates, other PACs, party committees, or other groups trying to influence elections during the last three election cycles.
Crypto platform Coinbase was the biggest spender, shelling out $89 million on lobbying and campaign contributions from the 2020 election cycle through the 2024 cycle (years 2019 through 2024). Coinbase is followed by health care retailer CVS Health ($66 million), defense contractor Honeywell International ($56 million), and power companies American Electric Power ($47 million) and Duke Energy ($35 million).
The table below lists the top 30 political spenders that paid no federal corporate income tax. For a full list of the political spending of all 88 companies included in ITEP’s analysis, see the Appendix.
Table 1: Top 30 Political Spending Companies
| Company | US Income 2025 | Taxes Avoided 2025 | State HQ | Total Political Spending | Lobbying Spending 2020-2024 cycles | Total Campaign Contributions 2020-2024 cycles* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase Global | $1.62 billion | $340 million | DE | $88,778,695 | $12,105,000 | $76,673,695 |
| CVS Health | $6.57 billion | $1.38 billion | RI | $66,289,500 | $62,643,000 | $3,646,500 |
| Honeywell International | $845 million | $177 million | NC | $56,007,000 | $43,240,000 | $12,767,000 |
| American Electric Power | $3.67 billion | $771 million | OH | $47,069,908 | $46,531,108 | $538,800 |
| Duke Energy | $5.54 billion | $1.16 billion | NC | $34,647,210 | $31,054,510 | $3,592,700 |
| Huntington Ingalls Industries | $777 million | $163 million | VA | $32,888,779 | $29,765,029 | $3,123,750 |
| Citigroup | $4.45 billion | $934 million | NY | $30,023,653 | $27,390,000 | $2,633,653 |
| Walt Disney | $8.30 billion | $1.74 billion | CA | $29,158,417 | $28,537,167 | $621,250 |
| L3Harris Technologies | $1.65 billion | $346 million | FL | $28,588,500 | $22,105,000 | $6,483,500 |
| United Airlines Holdings | $4.29 billion | $901 million | IL | $27,560,011 | $26,140,000 | $1,420,011 |
| Textron | $885 million | $186 million | RI | $27,224,697 | $25,508,697 | $1,716,000 |
| PG&E Corp. | $2.46 billion | $517 million | CA | $27,047,230 | $24,610,000 | $2,437,230 |
| Illumina | $318 million | $67 million | CA | $26,535,100 | $26,125,000 | $410,100 |
| Biogen | $1.17 billion | $246 million | MA | $22,079,680 | $21,726,680 | $353,000 |
| Sempra Energy | $853 million | $179 million | CA | $20,602,928 | $18,975,000 | $1,627,928 |
| 3M | $1.84 billion | $386 million | MN | $20,501,500 | $19,820,000 | $681,500 |
| Palantir Technologies | $1.58 billion | $332 million | CO | $19,659,000 | $19,610,000 | $49,000 |
| Dominion Energy | $3.49 billion | $733 million | VA | $19,128,962 | $16,270,000 | $2,858,962 |
| HP | $98 million | $21 million | CA | $14,641,000 | $14,520,000 | $121,000 |
| Ameren | $1.60 billion | $336 million | MO | $14,247,500 | $13,370,000 | $877,500 |
| Edison International | $6.22 billion | $1.31 billion | CA | $13,287,900 | $11,900,000 | $1,387,900 |
| Cheniere Energy | $6.97 billion | $1.46 billion | TX | $12,675,997 | $12,010,000 | $665,997 |
| Xcel Energy | $1.75 billion | $368 million | MN | $12,385,400 | $10,970,000 | $1,415,400 |
| SAIC | $375 million | $79 million | VA | $10,069,800 | $8,740,000 | $1,329,800 |
| Live Nation Entertainment | $98 million | $21 million | CA | $8,442,500 | $8,270,000 | $172,500 |
| Southwest Airlines | $561 million | $118 million | TX | $8,239,822 | $7,340,000 | $899,822 |
| Yum Brands | $1.03 billion | $216 million | KY | $8,066,165 | $7,814,965 | $251,200 |
| Block | $1.52 billion | $319 million | CA | $7,921,435 | $7,910,000 | $11,435 |
| Vistra Corp | $1.15 billion | $242 million | TX | $7,270,000 | $6,830,000 | $440,000 |
| Paypal Holdings | $1.43 billion | $300 million | CA | $7,219,148 | $7,147,538 | $71,610 |
Includes lobbying and contributions from 2019 through 2024. Source: ITEP’s At Least 88 Profitable U.S. Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025 (April 2026) and Public Citizen’s analysis of OpenSecrets data accessed May 2026. *Campaign contributions include PACs and contributions directly from companies. This does not include individual employee contributions.
Just looking at the 2024 election cycle, the top political spenders are the same: Coinbase ($83 million), Honeywell ($24 million), CVS Health ($23 million), American Electric Power ($15 million), and Duke Energy ($14 million).
The 88 Companies Spent $712 Million on Lobbying and Sent 1,119 Lobbyists to Capitol Hill Each Year on Average
From 2019 through 2024, the 88 companies that paid zero in federal corporate taxes in 2025 spent a combined $712 million on lobbying. Altogether, these companies sent an average of 1,119 lobbyists to influence the federal government each year.[4]
The lobbying spending and average number of lobbyists totals include lobbying on all issues. While we do not know how much money each company spent lobbying on a specific issue, federal disclosures do reveal many of the issues and bills a company lobbied on.
According to data published by OpenSecrets and analyzed by Public Citizen, 71 of the 88 companies that avoided federal corporate taxes in 2025 reported spending money on lobbying at some point during the period covered by this report.
Of the 71 companies that disclosed lobbying, 45 reported lobbying specifically on tax issues. Thirty-seven companies lobbied specifically on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 (OBBBA) and 32 lobbied on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)—bills that lowered the corporate tax rate and included corporate tax giveaways. Twenty companies lobbied on both the OBBBA and TCJA, all of which are among the top 25 political spenders in this analysis.
Twenty-three companies spent more than $10 million on lobbying and all but four of those lobbied on tax issues. Thirteen companies spent more than $20 million on lobbying. (Table 2)
Table 2: Twenty-Three Companies Spent More Than $10 Million on Lobbying
| Company | Total Lobbying Spending 2019-2024 | Average # of Lobbyists Hired Each Year 2019-2024 | Lobbied on Tax Issues | Lobbied Specifically on TCJA | Lobbied Specifically on OBBBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVS Health | $62,643,000 | 51 | Y | Y | N |
| American Electric Power | $46,531,108 | 8 | Y | Y | Y |
| Honeywell International | $43,240,000 | 49 | Y | Y | Y |
| Duke Energy | $31,054,510 | 49 | Y | Y | Y |
| Huntington Ingalls Industries | $29,765,029 | 38 | Y | N | Y |
| Walt Disney | $28,537,167 | 26 | Y | Y | N |
| Citigroup | $27,390,000 | 36 | Y | Y | Y |
| United Airlines Holdings | $26,140,000 | 31 | Y | N | Y |
| Illumina | $26,125,000 | 59 | N | N | Y |
| Textron | $25,508,697 | 25 | N | Y | Y |
| PG&E Corp. | $24,610,000 | 26 | Y | Y | Y |
| L3Harris Technologies | $22,105,000 | 31 | Y | N | Y |
| Biogen | $21,726,680 | 29 | Y | Y | Y |
| 3M | $19,820,000 | 31 | N | Y | Y |
| Palantir Technologies | $19,610,000 | 32 | Y | Y | Y |
| Sempra Energy | $18,975,000 | 26 | Y | N | Y |
| Dominion Energy | $16,270,000 | 14 | Y | N | N |
| HP | $14,520,000 | 31 | Y | Y | Y |
| Ameren | $13,370,000 | 19 | Y | Y | Y |
| Coinbase Global | $12,105,000 | 26 | Y | N | Y |
| Cheniere Energy | $12,010,000 | 17 | Y | Y | N |
| Edison International | $11,900,000 | 20 | N | Y | Y |
| Xcel Energy | $10,970,000 | 12 | Y | Y | Y |
Includes lobbying from 2019 through 2024. Lobbying totals and average number of lobbyists include lobbying on all issues. Source: ITEP’s At Least 88 Profitable U.S. Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025 (April 2026) and Public Citizen’s analysis of OpenSecrets data accessed May 2026. It is possible that the data on lobbying related to specific bills is an undercount—this data includes only companies that specifically named OBBBA and/or H.R. 1 in their disclosures.
On average, biotech firm Illumina sent the most lobbyists to Capitol Hill each year (59), followed by CVS Health (51), and Duke Energy and Honeywell (49 each).
The 88 Companies Spent $140 Million on Campaign Contributions
Most of the 88 companies have PACs through which they spend money on political causes. They use these PACs to fund campaigns of elected officials and new candidates for office, as well as party committees and outside groups. In some cases, the company itself, not the PAC, is responsible for the spending.
From the 2020 election cycle through the 2024 cycle, these companies have contributed $140 million to political campaigns. The top contributors include many of the same companies that rank at the top of the list for lobbying spending.
Eighteen of the 88 companies have contributed more than $1 million directly or through affiliated PACs (Table 3).
Table 3: Companies Spending More Than $1 Million on Political Contributions
| Company | Total Campaign Contributions 2020-2024 cycles* |
|---|---|
| Coinbase Global | $76,673,695 |
| Honeywell International | $12,767,000 |
| L3Harris Technologies | $6,483,500 |
| CVS Health | $3,646,500 |
| Duke Energy | $3,592,700 |
| Huntington Ingalls Industries | $3,123,750 |
| Dominion Energy | $2,858,962 |
| Citigroup | $2,633,653 |
| PG&E Corp. | $2,437,230 |
| Scotts Miracle-Gro | $2,071,000 |
| Textron | $1,716,000 |
| Sempra Energy | $1,627,928 |
| DTE Energy | $1,462,500 |
| United Airlines Holdings | $1,420,011 |
| Xcel Energy | $1,415,400 |
| Edison International | $1,387,900 |
| SAIC | $1,329,800 |
| Parsons | $1,308,850 |
Includes contributions from the 2020 through 2024 cycles. Source: Public Citizen’s analysis of OpenSecrets data accessed May 2026. *Campaign contributions include PACs and contributions directly from companies. This does not include individual employee contributions.
Coinbase is far and away the biggest campaign spender, with $77 million in political contributions between the 2020 and 2024 election cycles. Virtually all of that spending ($76.6 million) occurred during the 2024 election cycle. And, atypically, almost all of the money came directly from Coinbase itself, rather than from an affiliated PAC.
Paying for Itself: The Rebates Companies Received Far Exceed Their Political Spending
The federal income tax for corporations is 21%, meaning that these 88 companies collectively avoided $22.1 billion in taxes for FY 2025. On top of that, they collected $4.7 billion in tax rebates, bringing their total tax breaks to about $26.7 billion.[5]
The $4.7 billion in rebates is over 5x more than the $852 million in political spending covered in this analysis.
Looking at just the 2024 cycle, the rebates these companies collected exceeded their political spending by more than $4.3 billion (the companies spent $371 million on political spending during the 2024 cycle).
To add some context to just how much the rebates outpace their political spending, we can look at CVS Health, which spent about $23.5 million lobbying and campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle. CVS not only managed to zero out its federal income tax on $6.6 billion of US pretax income last year, it actually received a rebate of $255 million. So if CVS continued to spend at the same level that it did during the 2024 cycle in future cycles, its leftover 2025 tax rebate money could cover its political spending for the next ten election cycles (20 years).
In total, 17 of the top 30 tax dodging companies (by 2025 US income) could use their 2025 surplus tax rebate money to fund their political spending for at least the next decade.[6]
The 88 Tax-Dodging Companies Laid Off More Than 21,200 Workers Since 2025
Analyzing WARN Act notices and news reports, Public Citizen found that 25 of the 88 companies that avoided taxes in 2025 have collectively laid off at least 21,200 workers since the start of that year, despite raking in billions of dollars in revenue and spending millions on lobbying and campaign contributions.
PayPal announced plans to lay off 20% of its workforce in early 2026—approximately 4,760 jobs.[7] PayPal avoided paying more than $300 million in taxes on its $1.43 billion in income in 2025 and spent $7 million on political spending in the last three election cycles.
Block, which owns payment platforms Cash App and Square, announced in February that it is laying off 4,000 workers—more than 40% of its workforce.[8] Block avoided paying $319 million in taxes for its 2025 income and spent nearly $8 million in political spending in the last three election cycles.
Coinbase, the biggest political spender in our analysis, with nearly $90 million in lobbying and campaign expenditures, laid off 14% of its workforce (approximately 700 workers) in May.[9]
Many of the corporate tax dodgers are signaling that the recent layoffs are just the beginning: Citigroup announced plans to cut more than 20,000 jobs by the end of 2026, including about 1,000 jobs cut already this year;[10] HP laid off as many as 2,000 workers in February and announced plans to cut up to 6,000 jobs globally by 2028;[11] Disney laid off 1,000 workers in April and signaled likely additional cuts, citing a “culture of efficiency.”[12]
Consumers are also bearing the brunt of corporate greed. Late last year energy utility Ameren, which reported $1.6 billion in 2025 income and avoided $336 million in taxes, cut power to nearly 15,000 Missourians who were behind on their energy bills.[13] Ameren has spent $13 million on lobbying since 2019.
The mass layoffs by companies stand in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s claims that the tax cuts would be a “big job producer” and “protect American jobs.”[14]
Conclusion
Republican tax policy, cemented in the 2017 and 2025 tax laws, has provided egregious giveaways to wealthy corporations that has allowed more than seven dozen large, profitable companies to pay nothing in federal taxes, with some even receiving money back in the form of rebates. These corporate tax dodgers spend lavishly on lobbying and campaign contributions that feed into more tax breaks, which in turn fund even more political spending on policies that serve to pad corporate profits—and the cycle continues.
It is imperative that Congress undo the Republican tax giveaways to corporations like bonus depreciation and research and development write-offs. In addition, the corporate rate must be increased to at least the 35% rate that stood before the 2017 law. Corporations should not be able to deduct multimillion-dollar bonuses. And Congress must prevent multinational corporations from avoiding taxes by booking profits in offshore subsidiaries by equalizing the domestic and international tax rates.[15] With these and other reforms to our tax code, our nation could have more than enough revenue to reinvest in American communities and make life more affordable for everyone. It’s time to finally put people over corporate profits.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) for their excellent analysis that provided the foundation for this report. Thanks in particular to ITEP data analyst Spandan Marasini for his helpful advice and feedback.
Thanks also to Public Citizen research director Mike Tanglis, whose June 2021 report, “The Price of Zero: The 55 Corporations That Paid Zero in Federal Income Taxes Spent $450 Million on Political Spending,” was a critical blueprint for this analysis.
Appendix
| Rank | Company | 2025 US Income | 2025 Taxes Avoided | State HQ | Campaign Contributions 2020-2024 Cycles | Lobbying Spending 2020-2024 Cycles | Total Political Spending 2020-2024 Cycles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coinbase Global | $1.62 billion | $340 million | DE | $76,673,695 | $12,105,000 | $88,778,695 |
| 2 | CVS Health | $6.57 billion | $1.38 billion | RI | $3,646,500 | $62,643,000 | $66,289,500 |
| 3 | Honeywell International | $845 million | $177 million | NC | $12,767,000 | $43,240,000 | $56,007,000 |
| 4 | American Electric Power | $3.67 billion | $771 million | OH | $538,800 | $46,531,108 | $47,069,908 |
| 5 | Duke Energy | $5.54 billion | $1.16 billion | NC | $3,592,700 | $31,054,510 | $34,647,210 |
| 6 | Huntington Ingalls Industries | $777 million | $163 million | VA | $3,123,750 | $29,765,029 | $32,888,779 |
| 7 | Citigroup | $4.45 billion | $934 million | NY | $2,633,653 | $27,390,000 | $30,023,653 |
| 8 | Walt Disney | $8.30 billion | $1.74 billion | CA | $621,250 | $28,537,167 | $29,158,417 |
| 9 | L3Harris Technologies | $1.65 billion | $346 million | FL | $6,483,500 | $22,105,000 | $28,588,500 |
| 10 | United Airlines Holdings | $4.29 billion | $901 million | IL | $1,420,011 | $26,140,000 | $27,560,011 |
| 11 | Textron | $885 million | $186 million | RI | $1,716,000 | $25,508,697 | $27,224,697 |
| 12 | PG&E Corp. | $2.46 billion | $517 million | CA | $2,437,230 | $24,610,000 | $27,047,230 |
| 13 | Illumina | $318 million | $67 million | CA | $410,100 | $26,125,000 | $26,535,100 |
| 14 | Biogen | $1.17 billion | $246 million | MA | $353,000 | $21,726,680 | $22,079,680 |
| 15 | Sempra Energy | $853 million | $179 million | CA | $1,627,928 | $18,975,000 | $20,602,928 |
| 16 | 3M | $1.84 billion | $386 million | MN | $681,500 | $19,820,000 | $20,501,500 |
| 17 | Palantir Technologies | $1.58 billion | $332 million | CO | $49,000 | $19,610,000 | $19,659,000 |
| 18 | Dominion Energy | $3.49 billion | $733 million | VA | $2,858,962 | $16,270,000 | $19,128,962 |
| 19 | HP | $98 million | $21 million | CA | $121,000 | $14,520,000 | $14,641,000 |
| 20 | Ameren | $1.60 billion | $336 million | MO | $877,500 | $13,370,000 | $14,247,500 |
| 21 | Edison International | $6.22 billion | $1.31 billion | CA | $1,387,900 | $11,900,000 | $13,287,900 |
| 22 | Cheniere Energy | $6.97 billion | $1.46 billion | TX | $665,997 | $12,010,000 | $12,675,997 |
| 23 | Xcel Energy | $1.75 billion | $368 million | MN | $1,415,400 | $10,970,000 | $12,385,400 |
| 24 | SAIC | $375 million | $79 million | VA | $1,329,800 | $8,740,000 | $10,069,800 |
| 25 | Live Nation Entertainment | $98 million | $21 million | CA | $172,500 | $8,270,000 | $8,442,500 |
| 26 | Southwest Airlines | $561 million | $118 million | TX | $899,822 | $7,340,000 | $8,239,822 |
| 27 | Yum Brands | $1.03 billion | $216 million | KY | $251,200 | $7,814,965 | $8,066,165 |
| 28 | Block | $1.52 billion | $319 million | CA | $11,435 | $7,910,000 | $7,921,435 |
| 29 | Vistra Corp | $1.15 billion | $242 million | TX | $440,000 | $6,830,000 | $7,270,000 |
| 30 | Paypal Holdings | $1.43 billion | $300 million | CA | $71,610 | $7,147,538 | $7,219,148 |
| 31 | Parsons | $372 million | $78 million | VA | $1,308,850 | $5,260,000 | $6,568,850 |
| 32 | Pitney Bowes | $151 million | $32 million | CT | $485,000 | $5,950,000 | $6,435,000 |
| 33 | Scotts Miracle-Gro | $249 million | $52 million | OH | $2,071,000 | $4,030,000 | $6,101,000 |
| 34 | NiSource | $1.15 billion | $242 million | IN | $871,567 | $4,777,000 | $5,648,567 |
| 35 | DTE Energy | $1.54 billion | $323 million | MI | $1,462,500 | $4,160,000 | $5,622,500 |
| 36 | Mosaic | $142 million | $30 million | FL | $194,550 | $5,220,000 | $5,414,550 |
| 37 | WEC Energy Group | $1.67 billion | $351 million | WI | $160,000 | $5,105,000 | $5,265,000 |
| 38 | Autodesk | $674 million | $142 million | CA | $0 | $4,450,000 | $4,450,000 |
| 39 | Dropbox | $339 million | $71 million | CA | $175,900 | $4,130,000 | $4,305,900 |
| 40 | Tesla | $5.68 billion | $1.19 billion | TX | $0 | $4,210,000 | $4,210,000 |
| 41 | EQT | $2.67 billion | $561 million | PA | $882,850 | $3,255,470 | $4,138,320 |
| 42 | Halliburton | $773 million | $162 million | TX | $887,096 | $2,815,000 | $3,702,096 |
| 43 | Etsy | $173 million | $36 million | NY | $0 | $3,680,000 | $3,680,000 |
| 44 | Liberty Media | $288 million | $60 million | CO | $145,979 | $3,220,000 | $3,365,979 |
| 45 | Telephone & Data Systems | $58 million | $12 million | IL | $424,350 | $2,743,683 | $3,168,033 |
| 46 | NRG Energy | $1.03 billion | $216 million | TX | $295,050 | $2,730,000 | $3,025,050 |
| 47 | Roku | $72 million | $15 million | CA | $0 | $2,850,000 | $2,850,000 |
| 48 | ArcBest | $81 million | $17 million | AR | $8,500 | $2,770,000 | $2,778,500 |
| 49 | Brighthouse Financial | $475 million | $100 million | NC | $0 | $2,720,000 | $2,720,000 |
| 50 | V2X | $84 million | $18 million | VA | $149,690 | $2,262,500 | $2,412,190 |
| 51 | Hasbro | $364 million | $76 million | RI | $0 | $2,410,000 | $2,410,000 |
| 52 | KBR | $242 million | $51 million | TX | $127,250 | $2,136,000 | $2,263,250 |
| 53 | Wynn Resorts | $293 million | $62 million | NV | $172,500 | $2,030,000 | $2,202,500 |
| 54 | Jefferies Financial | $597 million | $125 million | NY | $0 | $1,200,000 | $1,200,000 |
| 55 | Costar Group | $127 million | $27 million | VA | $0 | $1,050,000 | $1,050,000 |
| 56 | Graphic Packaging | $492 million | $103 million | GA | $71,000 | $910,405 | $981,405 |
| 57 | Kohl's | $294 million | $62 million | WI | $0 | $920,000 | $920,000 |
| 58 | Seaboard | $57 million | $12 million | KS | $135,500 | $750,000 | $885,500 |
| 59 | Venture Global | $3.32 billion | $697 million | VA | $0 | $880,000 | $880,000 |
| 60 | PennyMac Financial Services | $554 million | $116 million | CA | $0 | $840,000 | $840,000 |
| 61 | GoDaddy | $981 million | $206 million | AZ | $228 | $800,000 | $800,228 |
| 62 | Toast | $316 million | $66 million | MA | $0 | $490,005 | $490,005 |
| 63 | UGI | $549 million | $115 million | PA | $29,400 | $449,000 | $478,400 |
| 64 | Atmos Energy | $1.46 billion | $307 million | TX | $218,100 | $260,000 | $478,100 |
| 65 | Teradata | $40 million | $8 million | CA | $0 | $350,000 | $350,000 |
| 66 | APA | $1.25 billion | $262 million | TX | $137,800 | $180,000 | $317,800 |
| 67 | Southwest Gas Holdings | $334 million | $70 million | NV | $260,500 | n/a | $260,500 |
| 68 | Solventum | $555 million | $117 million | MN | $0 | $250,000 | $250,000 |
| 69 | Petco Health and Wellness | $15 million | $3 million | CA | $0 | $220,000 | $220,000 |
| 70 | Hillenbrand | $24 million | $5 million | IN | $0 | $180,000 | $180,000 |
| 71 | Brink's | $62 million | $13 million | VA | $2,500 | $100,000 | $102,500 |
| 72 | Mastec | $450 million | $94 million | FL | $100,000 | n/a | $100,000 |
| 73 | Antero Resources | $848 million | $178 million | CO | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 74 | Datadog | $90 million | $19 million | NY | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 75 | Winnebago Industries | $22 million | $5 million | MN | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 76 | Sealed Air | $147 million | $31 million | NC | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 77 | Kaiser Aluminum | $136 million | $29 million | TN | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 78 | MasterBrand | $33 million | $7 million | OH | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 79 | AdaptHealth | $66 million | $14 million | PA | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 80 | ARKO | $19 million | $4 million | VA | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 81 | ASGN | $146 million | $31 million | VA | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 82 | Belden | $82 million | $17 million | MO | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 83 | BrightView Holdings | $76 million | $16 million | PA | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 84 | CVR Energy | $19 million | $4 million | TX | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 85 | ESAB | $35 million | $7 million | MD | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 86 | Liberty Energy | $201 million | $42 million | CO | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 87 | Upbound Group | $153 million | $32 million | TX | $0 | n/a | $0 |
| 88 | Vistance Networks | $21 million | $4 million | SC | $0 | n/a | $0 |
Sources
[1] ITEP analyzed annual financial reports filed by the nation’s largest publicly traded U.S.-based corporations in their most recent fiscal year. It is important to note that this is not a comprehensive list—ITEP could only analyze publicly traded firms, whose financial statements are publicly accessible. In addition, some companies’ fiscal years don’t line up with the calendar year and so did not have publicly available financial statements at the time of the report’s publication. See: Matthew Gardner and Spandan Marasini, "At Least 88 Profitable U.S. Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025," Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), April 14, 2026. https://itep.org/88-profitable-corporations-paid-zero-income-tax-in-2025/ [2] This report builds on and replicates the methodology of a previous Public Citizen analysis of ITEP data. In 2021 ITEP conducted a similar study of companies that avoided paying corporate income taxes, finding that 55 companies paid no federal corporate income tax in 2020. Public Citizen analyzed the political spending for those 55 companies at the time, publishing our findings in “The Price of Zero: The 55 Corporations That Paid Zero in Federal Income Taxes Spent $450 Million on Political Spending” (June 2021). See that report here. [3] A rough calculation of return on investment is ($22.1 billion gain from investment – $852 million cost of investment over last 3 election cycles)/$851 million cost of investment = 3,033.80%. [4] The average number of lobbyists is not limited to unique lobbyists. If a lobbyist were hired by multiple companies that lobbyist would be counted as one lobbyist for each company. Companies can hire the same lobbyists. [5] Matthew Gardner and Spandan Marasini, "At Least 88 Profitable U.S. Corporations Paid Zero Federal Income Tax in 2025," Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), April 14, 2026. https://itep.org/88-profitable-corporations-paid-zero-income-tax-in-2025/ [6] ITEP provided rebate data for the top 30 companies that paid zero in corporate income tax in 2025. Public Citizen compared rebates against companies’ combined lobbying spending and campaign contributions for the 2024 cycle—i.e. 2025 rebate/2023-2024 political spending. [7] Colleen Cabili, "PayPal layoffs: New CEO cuts 20% of workforce in Q1 2026," Quartz, May 6, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/paypal-layoffs-ceo-cuts-20-154944985.html [8] Julia Shapero, "Block laying off 40 percent of staff, citing AI advancements," The Hill, February 27, 2026. https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5758605-block-cash-app-square-parent-layoffs-ai/ [9] Prakhar Srivastava and Pragyan Kalita, "Crypto exchange Coinbase to cut about 14% of workforce in AI-driven restructuring," Reuters, May 5, 2026. https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/coinbase-cut-about-14-workforce-2026-05-05/ [10] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-layoffs-coming-citigroup-march-003002195.html [11] Judy Babu, "HP to cut about 6,000 jobs by 2028, ramps up AI efforts," Reuters, November 25, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/business/hp-cut-about-6000-jobs-by-2028-ramps-up-ai-efforts-2025-11-25/#:~:text=Nov%2025%20(Reuters)%20-%20HP,customer%20satisfaction%20and%20boost%20productivity. [12] Dade Hayes, "Disney’s Recent Layoffs May Not Be One-Offs As Company Touts 'Culture Of Efficiency,'" Deadline, May 6, 2026. https://deadline.com/2026/05/disney-layoffs-workers-ai-culture-of-efficiency-1236882815/ [13] Hunter Bassler, "Ameren cut off over 17,000 Missourians from electricity in October," 5 On Your Side, November 12, 2026. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/ameren-missouri-cut-off-power-to-thousands-in-october-2025-as-profits-spike/63-a94b2d42-259a-4a4c-8b61-cf5cf41f88ed [14] See: John Kartch, “Trump Touts Big Beautiful Expensing Provisions: ‘That’s the biggest thing. That’s the big job producer,” Americans for Tax Reform, January 23, 2026. https://atr.org/trump-touts-big-beautiful-expensing-provisionsthats-the-biggest-thing-thats-the-big-job-producer/ and "One Big Beautiful Bill Will Protect American Jobs, Unleash Economic Growth," White House press release, June 24, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2025/06/one-big-beautiful-bill-will-protect-american-jobs-unleash-economic-growth/ [15] Equalizing the tax rate means eliminating special deductions for offshore income under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, such as the 50 percent deduction on global low-taxed intangible income (GILTI). See, e.g., Richard Phillips and Nathan Proctor, "A Simple Fix for a $17 Billion Loophole: How States Can Reclaim Revenue Lost to Tax Havens," ITEP, January 17, 2019. https://itep.org/a-simple-fix-for-a-17-billion-loophole/