California Seeks To Tax Commercial Space Transportation Companies | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.21.25

Airborne-Unlimited-07.22.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.23.25

Airborne-Unlimited-07.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.25.25

Tue, May 09, 2017

California Seeks To Tax Commercial Space Transportation Companies

Franchise Tax Board Seeks Public Comment On The Proposal

The California Franchise Tax Board is seeking public comment on a proposal to compute taxes on commercial space transportation companies, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The board says that it created the proposed rules to give space entrepreneurs "confidence" that when their still-small businesses start to take off, the tax code for the state of California will be ready to accommodate them.

The code would apply to any company that derives at least half of its revenue from "space transportation" ... which is the movement of goods or people above an altitude of 62 miles ... and launches from California. CA companies that launch from other states, such as Florida or Texas, would not be subjected to the tax.

In the document, the state provides the following example: Taxpayer is a space transportation company that has entered into three launch contracts that result in the recognition of revenue in taxable year 201X. The first contract ("Contract A") is for two launches outside this state where the launch vehicles will each travel 1,000 miles from launch to separation. Taxpayer will recognize $2,000,000 of revenue in taxable year 201X from this contract. The second contract ("Contract B") is for one launch from outside of this state where the launch vehicle will travel 10,000 miles from launch to separation. Taxpayer will recognize $500,000 of revenue in taxable year 201X from this contract. The third contract ("Contract C") is for one launch from within this state where the launch vehicle will travel 1,000 miles from launch to separation. Taxpayer will recognize $1,000,000 of revenue in taxable year 201X from this contract. Taxpayer also has $500,000 of revenue from other than space transportation activities. 

The Franchise Board said that it got input from private space companies on the proposed rules. SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, CA, but conducts many launches from Florida.

Currently, California is the only state considering such a tax on space launch activities.

(California launch image from file)

FMI: Proposal

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 07.21.25: Nighthawk!, Hartzell Expands, Deltahawk 350HP!

Also: New Lakeland Fly-in!, Gleim's DPE, MOSAIC! Nearly three-quarters of a century in the making, EAA is excited about the future… especially with the potential of a MOSAIC>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.27.25): Estimated (EST)

Estimated (EST) -When used in NOTAMs “EST” is a contraction that is used by the issuing authority only when the condition is expected to return to service prior to the >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.27.25)

Aero Linx: Regional Airline Association (RAA) Regional airlines provide critical links connecting communities throughout North America to the national and international air transpo>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Luce Buttercup

The Airplane Broke Up In Flight And Descended To The Ground. The Debris Path Extended For About 1,435 Ft. Analysis: The pilot, who was the owner and builder of the experimental, am>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: 'That's All Brother'-Restoring a True Piece of Military History

From 2015 (YouTube version): History Comes Alive Thanks to A Magnificent CAF Effort The story of the Douglas C-47 named, “That’s all Brother,” is fascinating from>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC