US agencies probe media leak of wealthiest Americans’ tax records

US media outlet ProPublica published a report based on Internal Revenue Service data that showed billionaires including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder Elon Musk paid no federal income taxes during some years.

The United States Treasury Department has asked law enforcement authorities to investigate the disclosure of tax records cited in a media report that showed that some of the US’s richest people paid little to no income taxes, US officials said on Tuesday. US media outlet ProPublica said it obtained “a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years.” The data indicated that billionaires including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla founder Elon Musk paid no federal income taxes during some years. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that “any unauthorised disclosure of confidential government information” is illegal.