There are plenty of ways to set things up so that dividends are not taxed in the US, the most obvious being stocks owned by charitable organizations or resident of another country. As to bonuses the AMT was specifically created because of people paying zero taxes despite significant income. However, you can have situations where a bonus results in minimal, zero, or even negative additional taxes for a given year. EX: Putting the full value of a bonus into a 401k while over the SS cap.

It doesn't count unless it's taxed at least three times.