Do unauthorized immigrants outpay 4 major corporations in taxes? What data shows

Memes circulated online claiming that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally paid more taxes than Amazon, General Motors, IBM and Netflix combined. Published July 19, 2026 In July 2026, memes circulated online claiming that immigrants living in the U.S. illegally paid more taxes than Amazon, General Motors, IBM and Netflix combined. The claim has spread since at least June 2025. The memes appeared to be based on a 2024 study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy that calculated the total taxes paid by undocumented immigrants in 2022. It showed that those immigrants had paid almost $100 billion in taxes that year, including $7 billion in income taxes alone. In comparison, annual reports by Amazon, General Motors, IBM and Netflix showed that they had paid a combined $4.2 billion in income taxes in 2022. Therefore, if the study's conclusions are correct, undocumented immigrants did indeed pay 65% more in taxes in 2022 than the four specified companies combined. In July 2026, a claim circulated online that immigrants with unauthorized status in the U.S. had paid more taxes than Amazon, General Motors, IBM and Netflix combined. Posts shared on X and Facebook amplified the rumor: The claim was not new and had been spreading since 2025. For example, a June 2025 Facebook post shared an earlier version of the claim, clarifying in the caption that it was referring to 2022 and 2023 data — even though the meme text said "last year." The most recent versions of the claim reused the phrase "last year" from earlier posts without updating it. The memes appeared to base their claims on a 2024 study about undocumented immigrants' tax payments. Comparing that data to the combined 2022 tax bill of the four specified companies confirms the claim is correct. In 2024, an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit think tank on taxation that describes itself as nonpartisan but has been deemed liberal by others, concluded that in 2022, undocumented immigrants contributed a total of $96.7 billion in local, state and federal taxes (including for Social Security and Medicare). This included $7 billion in personal and business income taxes and $37.3 billion in state and local taxes. It is a well-documented fact that immigrants residing in the U.S. without authorization do pay taxes. As the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank that promotes bipartisanship, explained in 2018, such immigrants can and do contribute taxes even though they don't have Social Security numbers. They can instead use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. In fact, they contribute to safety-net schemes such as Social Security, food assistance programs, Medicare or Medicaid, and cash assistance, but often cannot benefit from them, meaning they help fund these programs for those who reside here legally. Taxes these companies paid in 2022 Taxes of publicly traded companies are public record. Snopes confirmed details of their tax bills for that year. In 2023, Amazon published a news release stating it had paid a total of $13.1 billion in income and payroll taxes in 2022. The statement included a breakdown as follows: Amazon's 2022 tax contributions include: $2.2 billion in current federal income tax expense. $6.2 billion in federal taxes that include employer payroll taxes, customs duties, and other taxes and fees. $4.7 billion in state and local taxes of all types. Amazon volunteered one item that included the amount of payroll taxes — that is, employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare — it paid in 2022. However, as Snopes reported in 2024, that item also included customs duties or tariffs, which are passed on to consumers like a sales tax, meaning Amazon itself does not pay them. It was unclear what the company meant by "other taxes and fees." Due to the fact we could not break it down into taxes Amazon paid and taxes it collected on behalf of the government, we included that number in our first calculation, though the final result overestimates what the retail giant actually paid. In addition, Amazon said it had further helped to collect sales tax, though we did not include it in the income tax calculation as every business must collect and remit sales tax on their goods and services. These taxes are paid by consumers and not by the companies that sell the products. GM, meanwhile, did not provide such a breakdown for that year, but said it had paid $1.888 billion in income taxes in 2022 in its news release for its full-year results. IBM did not pay taxes in 2022. Instead, it received a tax refund of $626 million, according to its annual report for that year. Lastly, Netflix said it had set aside $772,005 for income taxes in 2022 in its annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In total, the four companies combined had paid $15.134 billion in taxes, including Amazon's "payroll taxes, customs duties and other taxes and fees." However, if we limit the comparison to just the income taxes paid by immigrants illegally residing in the U.S. vs. the income taxes paid by the companies, immigrants still paid more: The companies paid a total of $4.234 billion in income tax compared with the $7 billion undocumented immigrants paid for the year 2022, according to ITEP's study — 65% more. Based on this data, and comparing it with the conclusion of the study, Snopes found that it is true immigrants living in the U.S. illegally contributed more in taxes than those four companies combined, with the caveat that the annual statements of GM, IBM and Netflix did not include payroll taxes. Sources Davis, Carl, et al. "Tax Payments by Undocumented Immigrants." Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 30 July 2024, itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-2024/. Accessed 20 June 2025."GM Releases 2022 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results, and 2023 Guidance | General Motors Company." General Motors Company, 2022, investor.gm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gm-releases-2022-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-results-and-2023/. Accessed 20 June 2025.Hallman, Hunter. "Bipartisan Policy Center." Bipartisan Policy Center, 18 Apr. 2018, bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/how-do-undocumented-immigrants-pay-federal-taxes-an-explainer/. Accessed 20 June 2025."How Amazon Continues to Contribute to the U.S. Economy." US about Amazon, 3 Feb. 2023, www.aboutamazon.com/news/policy-news-views/how-amazon-continues-to-contribute-to-the-u-s-economy. Accessed 20 June 2025.IBM Annual Report | 2022. Jan. 2023, www.ibm.com/investor/att/pdf/IBM_Annual_Report_2022.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2025.Netflix. "Netflix Annual Report 2022." Netflix, 26 Jan. 2023, s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/ar/4e32b45c-a99e-4c7d-b988-4eef8377500c.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2025.Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "Trump's Proposed Tariffs: What Are They, and How Would They Affect US Economy?" Snopes, Snopes.com, 19 Sept. 2024, www.snopes.com/news/2024/09/19/trump-tariffs-explainer/. Accessed 20 June 2025. By Anna Rascouët-Paz Anna Rascouët-Paz is based in Brooklyn, fluent in numerous languages and specializes in science and economic topics. Got tips? Reach out to her on Signal at rascouetsnopes.41 or via email at anna@snopes.com. Article Tags