Meta dodging taxes with data sites | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Meta is reportedly using an aggressive interpretation of the U.S. research and experimentation tax credit for its AI data centers, according to a report reviewed in financial filings. While CEO Mark Zuckerberg describes the company’s AI push as “tremendous success” to investors, the company tells the IRS that its multibillion-dollar data centers function like a “pilot model” or experiment that could fail—so it can claim rebates tied to an innovation-focused tax break created in the 1980s. The New York Times says Meta started claiming the credit for the data centers two years ago; the savings nearly cut $4 billion from last year’s tax bill. Meta’s own disclosures warn the IRS could overturn the benefits.