NVIDIA paid $16.76 billion in federal income tax on $123.18 billion of U.S. income

NVIDIA reported $20.29 billion in total cash income taxes paid for the fiscal year 2026. The filing breaks this amount out by federal, state, and selected foreign jurisdictions. It names Israel and California specifically and groups other jurisdictions into residual categories. The disclosure provides limited country-level detail beyond those named amounts.

Country-level tax picture

Cash tax payments were primarily federal. State and foreign payments were smaller in comparison. Only Israel is separately identified outside the United States.

For the fiscal year ended January 25, 2026, Nvidia reported the following cash income taxes paid:

• Federal: $16.76 billion

• California: $1.05 billion

• Other state: $1.04 billion

• Israel: $1.29 billion

• Other foreign: $0.16 billion

Total cash income taxes paid: $20.29 billion.

The filing does not name any foreign country other than Israel. All other foreign taxes are grouped into a single line.

Concentration and scale

Federal payments account for most of NVIDIA’s cash taxes. Federal tax of $16.76 billion represents about 83% of total cash income taxes paid. State taxes total $2.09 billion, or roughly 10% of the total. Foreign taxes total $1.44 billion, or about 7%.

In foreign payments, Israel accounts for nearly all disclosed foreign cash taxes. The $1.29 billion paid to Israel accounts for almost 90% of total foreign cash taxes. Other foreign jurisdictions combined represent less than 1% of total global cash taxes.

Cash tax payments are therefore concentrated in the United States, with a smaller but visible presence in Israel. The filing provides no country-level detail for Europe or Asia beyond Israel.

Year-over-year change

Income before income tax increased from $84.03 billion in fiscal 2025 to $141.45 billion in fiscal 2026. U.S. income before income tax rose from $77.46 billion to $123.18 billion.

Income tax expense increased from $11.15 billion in fiscal 2025 to $21.38 billion in fiscal 2026. The effective tax rate increased from 13.3% to 15.1%.

The filing does not provide a prior-year country breakdown of cash income taxes paid in the same format. As a result, year-over-year changes in geographic cash tax mix cannot be directly compared at the country level.

The reconciliation shows that state taxes, foreign tax effects, and tax credits all contributed to differences from the 21% statutory rate. Federal research and development credits and foreign-derived deduction eligible income reduced the rate in both years.

What the numbers suggest

The structure of NVIDIA’s tax payments is concentrated and transparent at the federal level. More than four-fifths of global cash taxes were paid to the U.S. federal government. State taxes and Israel represent the only other meaningful disclosed amounts. The absence of further country detail limits visibility into broader foreign exposure.

The effective tax rate of 15.1% remains below the 21% federal statutory rate. The gap reflects credits, foreign rate differentials, and other statutory adjustments disclosed in the rate reconciliation.

The filing identifies one non-routine factor. In July 2025, the OBBBA was enacted, changing key U.S. federal income tax laws. NVIDIA recognized the tax effects of currently effective provisions in fiscal 2026. The reconciliation also includes tax effects from the enactment of new tax laws and changes in valuation allowance and unrecognized tax benefits. The filing does not quantify how much of the year-over-year rate change is attributable solely to legislative changes.

Closing takeaway

NVIDIA’s cash tax profile is heavily U.S.-centric, with federal payments dominating the total. Israel is the only named foreign jurisdiction, and the effective tax rate reflects credits and recent legislative changes rather than a shift in geographic footprint.