ProPublica publishes the Secret IRS Files, revealing how billionaires legally avoid taxes

ProPublica published the first installment of its Secret IRS Files series on June 8, 2021, drawing on leaked IRS records obtained by contractor Charles Littlejohn. The nearly 50-article series found that the 25 wealthiest Americans paid a median effective federal income tax rate of 3.4 percent between 2014 and 2018, far below the rates paid by middle-class workers. ProPublica reported that Jeff Bezos paid zero federal income tax in 2007 and 2011, and that Elon Musk paid zero in 2018. The series ignited congressional debate over a billionaire minimum tax and made IRS data security a bipartisan political flashpoint.