Activision Blizzard paid $0 in taxes in 2018, took $228 million from tax payers

A new report from ITEP, which looks into income taxes for some of the largest companies in the world, has revealed that Activision Blizzard paid $0 in federal taxes in 2018.

The company had an effective tax rate of -51% in 2018, which lead to US Tax Payers having to pay $228 million to Activision Blizzard instead as a tax rebate.

Here’s the chart from ITEP, which shows that Activision Blizzard took in $447 million in US income, and had an effective rate of -51%.

These tax loopholes that many of the country’s largest companies are exploiting has lead to some of the biggest companies in the world avoiding federal income taxes in 2018. President Trump enacted new tax laws as well that led to businesses having reduced effective tax rates.

“This tax break allows companies to write off stock-option related expenses in excess of the cost they reported to shareholders and the public,” reports ITEP as the reason for these numbers.