Companies are piling up hundreds of millions of dollars in income taxes on the salaries of top executives, a growing bill that in some cases makes up a substantial portion of their annual tax expense.
Tesla Inc. booked $447 million in taxes on executive pay over three years. Payment to officers generated approximately 20% of all tax costs booked by the defense contractor Haumet Aerospace In the same period, Inc. at cosmetics retailer upside down beauty Inc., executive pay subject to corporate tax has more than tripled since 2019.