Jeff Bezos Says ‘We Don’t Have a Revenue Problem’ in America — Bottom Half Paying Just 3% of Taxes Means ‘We Can Find 3%’

Taxes have a way of making almost everyone feel the same—like someone else is getting the better deal.

Amazon (AMZN) founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos offered a different take on that familiar frustration, arguing that the real issue isn’t whether billionaires should pay more, but why many working Americans are paying federal income taxes at all.

Speaking with CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin on “Squawk Box” in May, Bezos pointed to what he described as a “tale of two economies.” While many Americans are thriving, he said, others are struggling to keep up with everyday expenses despite working full time.

To illustrate his point, Bezos turned to a hypothetical nurse living in New York.

The Nurse In Queens

“A nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year pays more than $12,000 a year in taxes,” Bezos told Sorkin. “Does that really make sense? 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 a month that could help with rent or groceries or anything.”

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Bezos then pointed to what he said is a surprisingly small contribution from lower-income taxpayers.

“The bottom half of income earners in this country pay only 3 percent of the taxes. It’s only 3 percent. We can find 3 percent,” he said. “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. It really makes no sense.”

Don’t Blame Billionaires

Bezos stressed that disagreements over tax policy are legitimate but argued the conversation often goes off course when it turns personal.

“We can argue about what the fair share is. That’s a policy debate. That’s okay,” he said. “But the vilification is the thing that’s just the distraction.”

He also challenged the idea that raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans would meaningfully improve the financial situation of working families.

“If people want me to pay more billions, then let’s have that debate. But don’t pretend you know that that’s going to solve the problem,” Bezos said. “You could double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens. I promise you.”

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“We Don’t Have a Revenue Problem”

Bezos argued that the U.S. tax system is already highly progressive, noting that the top 1% of taxpayers contribute about 40% of all federal income tax revenue, while the bottom half contribute about 3%.

According to the most recent Internal Revenue Service data analyzed by the Tax Foundation—for tax year 2023, the latest detailed breakdown available as of 2026—the bottom 50% of taxpayers, generally those with adjusted gross incomes below about $54,000, paid approximately 3.3% of total federal individual income taxes.

“I think it should be zero. I don’t think it should be 3 percent,” he said of the bottom half’s share. “So we would be making it more progressive that way.”

He closed with what he sees as the larger issue facing Washington.

“And by the way, if you really are being honest about it, we don’t have a revenue problem in this country,” Bezos said. “We actually have a spending problem, and that’s a skills issue.”

Whether lawmakers ultimately embrace Bezos’ view is another question. But his broader argument wasn’t simply about lowering taxes—it was about shifting the conversation away from who to blame and toward how government resources are managed.