Musk previously asserted that he pays billions of dollars in taxes, and in 2021, he contributed a record sum to the US treasury. The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that Space X pays little to no taxes due to deductions.
The American entrepreneur, founder of Tesla and Space X, Elon Musk stated that one time he paid so much in taxes that the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) computer system crashed. He wrote this on his X page.
“Once I paid so many taxes that it crashed the tax office’s computer (literally). Too many figures. They had to update the software to process it all,” he shared.
This was his comment on an X post suggesting that wealthy individuals in the US actually pay more taxes than would be considered fair.
Elon Musk is the richest person globally. Forbes estimates his wealth at $726 billion. In October, the businessman became the first person ever whose net worth exceeded $600 billion. This occurred after SpaceX, founded by Musk, raised its valuation to $800 billion ahead of its planned 2026 IPO. The offering could be the largest in history, and Musk is nearing becoming the world’s first trillionaire, noted Forbes and Bloomberg.
In 2021, Musk mentioned that he would pay over $11 billion in taxes for that year. At the time, he called this a record tax payment in United States history.
In August 2025, The New York Times (NYT) wrote that Elon Musk’s Space X, over its more than two decades of existence, received billions of dollars in government contracts but, according to documents the publication possessed, paid minimal or no federal income taxes.
According to the newspaper, the firm utilized a benefit so its losses ($5 billion at the end of 2021) could be offset against future tax liabilities. Deductions are meant to support a company during difficult periods, but in the case of Space X, this was “odd,” as “it clearly wasn’t intended for a company developing so successfully,” said one expert interviewed by the NYT.
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