An $8 billion Treasury break helped bring Meta’s tax rate to 2%. Now it has a week to answer senators about data center tax credits

What happened: Seven Democratic senators wrote to Mark Zuckerberg on Oct. 13 asking how Meta classified its AI data centers as experimental to claim the federal research credit, with a Halloween deadline for answers. Key numbers: Nine-month 2026 effective tax rate was 2% versus the 21% statutory rate, on $53.5 billion pretax income and a $1.03 billion tax Why it matters: Meta says it expects a 15-17% fourth-quarter 2026 tax rate, and the letter questions how much of the research credit went to data center materials. Meta says AI data centers require testing that cannot be simulated. Market: -1.0% today ($642.62), -1.0% YTD, 0.8x vol — as of 21:46 UTC Verified: Q3_2026 (Oct 21) EPS $3.83 vs $5.46 est, -29.9% miss; next print ~Jan 20 Coverage: 3 outlets in 24h

Seven Democratic senators wrote to Mark Zuckerberg on Oct. 13 asking how Meta classified its AI data centers as experimental to claim the federal research credit, with a Halloween deadline for answers.

Meta says it expects a 15-17% fourth-quarter 2026 tax rate, and the letter questions how much of the research credit went to data center materials. Meta says AI data centers require testing that cannot be simulated. Market: -1.0% today ($642.62), -1.0% YTD, 0.8x vol — as of 21:46 UTC Verified: Q3_2026 (Oct 21) EPS $3.83 vs $5.46 est, -29.9% miss; next print ~Jan 20