Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

For roughly 76 million American households, federal income taxes could eventually disappear—if a proposal by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ever becomes reality. The now Blue Origin owner argued in a recent interview with CNBC that the bottom half of U.S. earners should pay no income tax, saying that working Americans shouldn’t be placed under increased financial pressure, considering they contribute a relatively small share of total tax revenue anyway. “The bottom half of income earners in this country pay only 3% of the taxes,” Bezos said. “I think it should be zero.” To make his case, Bezos questioned why a hypothetical healthcare worker as an example: “Why is a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year paying more than $1,000 a month in taxes?” “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,” Bezos added. “They should be sending her an apology. It really makes no sense.” While Bezos did not elaborate on his exact calculations, workers in the U.S. are generally required to pay federal income, Social Security, Medicare—and in most states, state income—taxes. Combined together, it can stretch into the thousands of dollars. Because the U.S. tax system is progressive, higher earners generally pay a larger share of their income in federal taxes. In 2023, the bottom half of taxpayers (those making roughly under $54,000) accounted for roughly 12% of total adjusted gross income—but they paid just 3% of all federal income taxes, according to IRS data analyzed by the Tax Foundation. The average household in that group paid about $913 in federal income tax. However, when refundable tax credits are factored in, the bottom 40% of taxpayers already pay effectively no federal income tax on average, reported CNBC. Bezos, who has maintained a warm relationship with President Donald Trump, said he plans to advocate for the idea with political leaders, arguing that exempting lower earners from federal