John,

We know we can invest in critical programs for our future that reduce poverty and put money in people’s pockets when the rich and corporations start paying their fair share. That’s why it’s so critical that multibillion dollar corporations like Amazon pay what they owe in taxes.

In 2018, Amazon paid $0 in federal income taxes on $11 billion in profits.¹ It paid a tax rate of just 5% on nearly $80 billion in profits the last four years. That’s far less than the 13% federal income tax rate paid by the average taxpayer.²

Tomorrow, Amazon shareholders will vote on a motion to hold Amazon accountable. If passed, Amazon Shareholder Proposal #12 will require it to disclose its revenues, profits, and taxes in each of the countries where it books income. This will expose Amazon’s shifting of profits offshore to avoid paying what it owes in taxes here at home.  

More than 50,000 people have already signed the petition ahead of tomorrow’s vote. Will you add your name and tell Amazon shareholders to vote to hold Amazon accountable? We’ll deliver your signature before the vote!

When shareholders first called for a resolution that would require Amazon to make public the taxes it pays in every country around the world, Amazon tried to kill the motion. Thankfully, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stepped in and ruled that the motion must be voted on.

According to the IRS, offshore profit shifting by corporations is estimated to cost the U.S. government as much as $100 billion in lost tax revenue every year.³ That’s money that could be used to reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit that had been putting monthly payments of between $250 and $300 per child into the pockets of working families. Or, we could expand home care services for the aging and people with disabilities, and make sure that home care workers are paid a reasonable wage.

Amazon, which is worth $1.1 trillion, doesn’t want the public to know how much of that lost revenue it owes.⁴

Sign the petition urging Amazon shareholders to hold Amazon accountable. We’ll deliver your signature ahead of tomorrow’s vote!

Thank you for fighting for an economy that leaves no one behind.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ https://itep.org/amazon-avoids-more-than-5-billion-in-corporate-income-taxes-reports-6-percent-tax-rate-on-35-billion-of-us-income/
² https://taxfoundation.org/publications/latest-federal-income-tax-data/
³ https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/MadeInAmericaTaxPlan_Report.pdf
⁴ https://companiesmarketcap.com/amazon/marketcap/