Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told CNBC on Wednesday that the bottom half of U.S. earners should pay no federal income tax, arguing that eliminating those taxes could ease financial strain and encourage entrepreneurship.

The bottom half of U.S. taxpayers currently pays about 3% of federal income taxes, a share Bezos said should fall to "zero." Bezos, who stepped back as Amazon's CEO in 2021, is the world's fourth-richest person, with a fortune valued at $279 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The top 1% of households pay about 40% of federal income taxes, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax policy institute. 

Bezos' comments come amid renewed pushes from some Democratic state and federal lawmakers to institute new wealth taxes aimed at millionaires and billionaires. At the same time, the Republicans' "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill included tax breaks that critics say predominantly help the wealthiest households. 

The government can give "people who are struggling today" a better chance at entrepreneurial success "by eliminating their tax bill," Bezos said.

"Maybe they're going to be the next Steve Jobs," Bezos said, referring to the late co-founder of Apple.

Zero taxes, not lower taxes

Bezos made it clear that he's not calling for a reduction in income tax for lower-income families. 

"I don't want to reduce it, I want to eliminate it," he told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. "I think there's something very powerful about zero. Zero is a better number than $1."

Bezos stated his views as some Democratic states are proposing taxes on ultra-wealthy residents. Last month, proponents of a proposal to tax California billionaires obtained enough signatures for the measure to appear on the November ballot. The measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on Californians with net worths of $1 billion or more.

In March, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act of 2026. The bill calls for an annual 2% tax on households and trusts worth more than $50 million, plus an extra 1% tax on billionaires' wealth. It also proposes a 40% "exit tax" on individuals worth more than $50 million who renounce their American citizenship. 

Additionally, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey has proposed the Keep Your Pay Act, which would eliminate taxes on the first $75,000 for households filing joint tax returns.

Under the federal income-tax system, the bottom half of taxpayers — those making less than $53,801 annually — faced an average income-tax rate of 3.7% in 2023, Tax Foundation data shows. The top 1% paid an average rate of 26.3%.