As day to day taxes are weighted heavy by common citizens, California was reported to initiate a code to tax space travel. The good side is the further the company spacecraft travels, the less tax they would need to pay.
According to San Francisco Chronicle, the California Franchise Tax Board is currently seeking the opinion of their people regarding taxing space transportation. Space transportation was then described to be the movement of people or property 62 miles above the surface of the Earth. In which, 62 miles was defined to be the recognized line that distinguishes the Earth from space.
However, the tax doesn’t apply to Californian commercial space companies launching from Texas or Florida but instead those companies that integrate space transportation via California as a Launchpad. Aside from that, the taxing also applies to cargo hauls as stated in the “Initial Statement of Reasons” proposal. The method of the taxing process was said to be based on how the commercial spacecraft would travel from California.
“More mileage will mean less tax, and less mileage will mean more tax,” Thomas Lo Grossman, a tax attorney at the Franchise Tax Board explained. The space transportation tax that California plans to implement was also mentioned to be based on a formula factoring how much a company launches a spacecraft as Travel Pulse reported.
It was then stated by the Franchise Tax Board as well that the reason why California aims to tax space travels is in order for private space companies to follow the tax code. In which is the preparation for future businesses is placed in line. The board also identified that the space transportation tax would “lead to increased activity in the industry and will foster an atmosphere of growth and prosperity once present during the golden age of California’s aviation industry, thereby creating jobs as the industry thrives in this state.”
Nonetheless, it was said that amid the proposal of California taxing space transportation, 8 launches are slated to occur at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in Santa Barbara County about 50 miles south of San Luis Obispo. A public hearing was also announced to occur on June 16. People are also permitted to submit comments and opinions online here.