When campaigning with Donald Trump in 2024, Tesla CEO and the world's richest man Elon Musk said he often spurned proposals to avoid higher tax bills. "I’m often pitched on these loopholes. I’m like, 'That sounds pretty shady. I don’t think we should do that.'"

When Tesla released its annual report for US regulators in January, it reported a federal tax bill of zero dollars for 2025. Reasons include a history of tax deductions related to losses Tesla incurred during more than a decade without profits, and green energy tax breaks offered by the federal government also cut Tesla some slack.

A Reuters review of corporate filings by Tesla and foreign subsidiaries reveals another, and previously unreported, means of big savings: Tesla units in the Netherlands and Singapore in recent years posted $18 billion in profits that were not taxed in those ‌countries. Without the help of a financial maneuver, moreover, those profits would likely have been reported and taxed in the United States.