Politicians are chipping away at America's tax base, despite a growing debt

For the 2025 tax year, President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the tax burden on 85% of U.S. households. At the same time, 88 of America’s largest companies, including Tesla, and United Airlines, paid no federal corporate income taxes in their last fiscal year.

Between recent tax cuts, corporate tax breaks, and further proposed tax reductions, it begs the question: who is going to foot the bill for America’s projects and debts?

Annie Lowrey is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She joined “Marketplace” Host Kai Ryssdal to talk about the way that politicians are chipping away at the U.S. tax base, and what the long-term impact of that could be.

Listen in the player above to hear the conversation.

Correction (May 8, 2026): A previous version of this story incorrectly included PayPal among the companies that had paid zero dollars in federal income taxes in 2025.