Those wondering how many zeros Amazon, which is valued at nearly $800 billion, has to pay in federal taxes might be surprised to learn that its check to the IRS will read exactly $0.00.
那些想知道市值约8000亿美元的亚马逊要缴纳多少联邦税的人，可能会惊讶地发现，它给国税局的支票恰好是0美元。
According to a report published by the Institute on Taxation and Economic (ITEP) policy Wednesday, the e-tail/retail/tech/entertainment/everything giant won’t have to pay a cent in federal taxes for the second year in a row.
美国税收与经济研究所（ITEP）周三发布的一份报告显示，这家电子零售/科技/娱乐/所有行业的巨头将不需要连续两年缴纳联邦税。
This tax-free break comes even though Amazon almost doubled its U.S. profits from $5.6 billion to $11.2 billion between 2017 and 2018.
尽管亚马逊在美国的利润在2017年至2018年间增长了几乎一倍，从56亿美元增长到112亿美元，但这一免税优惠还是来了。
To top it off, Amazon actually reported a $129 million 2018 federal income tax rebate—making its tax rate -1%.
更有甚者，亚马逊报告了2018年1.29亿美元的联邦所得税退税，使其税率降低了1%。
Amazon’s low (to non-existent) tax rate has been chided by politicians ranging from Senator Bernie Sanders to President Donald Trump.
从参议员伯尼•桑德斯到总统唐纳德•特朗普，亚马逊很低的（甚至是不存在的）税率受到了政界人士的谴责。
But even though Trump previously blasted Amazon for its limited state taxes—a single presidential tweet caused the company’s shares to fall by 9%—ITEP notes that its non-existent federal tax payment is a result of the Trump Administration’s corporation-friendly tax cuts.
尽管特朗普之前曾抨击过亚马逊缴纳的州税有限——一条总统的推特就导致该公司股价下跌了9%，但是ITEP 指出，该公司不交联邦税是特朗普政府对企业的有利减税政策的结果。
The think tank writes that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act not only decreased corporate tax rates from 35% to 21%, but it also didn’t close “a slew of tax loopholes that allow profitable companies to routinely avoid paying federal and state income taxes on almost half of their profits.”
智囊团写道，2017年的减税和就业法案不仅将企业所得税税率从35%降低至21%，而且没有消除“大量的税收漏洞，这些漏洞使盈利公司们能习惯性地逃避对几乎一半的利润缴纳联邦和州所得税”。
Amazon has a history of avoiding various sales taxes and made headlines last summer after successfully convincing Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan to repeal a tax that would have helped the city’s homeless population.
亚马逊有避免各种销售税的历史，去年夏天，它成功地说服西雅图市长珍妮·德坎废除一项本可以帮助该市无家可归人口的税收，登上了新闻头条。
今日语言点
1）be valued at
这个结构用来表示“……的价值是多少”。
这里的 valued 是 value（价值）作动词，表示“定价”。
2）read $0.00
Read（阅读）可以用来表“数值是多少”。
3）make sth. sth.
这个结构表示“使……成为……”、“导致……是……”
The show made him famous.
那个节目让他红了。
