Elon Musk Says He Paid So Much In Taxes That 'It Broke The IRS Computer'
The post revived debate about how much Musk has paid in taxes and how those payments compare with his wealth gains and the government support received by his companies.
Elon Muck, the world's richest person and founder and CEO of Tesla criticised the US tax portal for not updating the software, causing delays in processing.
Musk said he paid so much in taxes one year that it overwhelmed the United States tax authority’s systems, making the remark in a joking tone while responding to online claims about how much the wealthy contribute to public finances.
"I paid so much in taxes one year that it broke the IRS computer (actually). Too many digits. They had to update the software to get it processed," Musk said.
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The IRS refers to the Internal Revenue Service — the agency of the United States government responsible for collecting federal taxes and enforcing tax laws. It performs a role similar to India’s Income Tax Department.
The comment came in response to a post on X that shared a chart on income tax payments in the US. The chart said the top five % of taxpayers accounted for a large share of federal income tax paid in 2021, while lower income groups contributed far less.
Musk wrote that he paid so much in taxes one year that it “broke the IRS computer,” adding that there were too many digits and the software had to be updated to process the payment.
The post revived debate about how much Musk has paid in taxes and how those payments compare with his wealth gains and the government support received by his companies.
In earlier posts, Musk has publicly addressed his tax payments. In 2021, he said he would pay more than $11 billion in taxes that year.
In another post in 2023, he said he paid 53% tax on Tesla stock options, including 40% federal tax and 13% state tax. He said he paid more income tax than anyone in history for 2021 and would do so again in 2022.
Musk’s statements on taxes have drawn scrutiny in the past. In 2021, ProPublica published an investigation that said Musk and several other billionaires paid no federal income taxes in 2018.
ProPublica reported that between 2014 and 2018, Musk paid $455 million in taxes on $1.52 billion in income, even as his wealth rose by $13.9 billion over the same period.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk ranked as the world’s richest person as of Jan. 1, 2023, with a total wealth of $619.4 billion.
