Top line
MP Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) On Tuesday unveiled a proposal to introduce a new excise tax on commercial space flights as multi-billion dollar entrepreneurs compete to send customers to the stars.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 8: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) (C) speaks to reporters at the announcement … [+]
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Important facts
Blumenauer, a high-ranking Democrat on the tax-oriented House Ways and Means Committee, is proposing the Tax Act to Ensure Protection Against Carbon Emissions (SPACE), which targets space flights “for purposes other than scientific research.”
Blumenauer considers “an excise duty of 10 percent per passenger”, similar to the excise duty on flight taxes, his spokeswoman Danielle Cohen told Forbes.
He’s also considering a two-tier tax per take-off, with one rate for flights between 80 and 80 miles above the surface of the earth and a “significantly higher” rate for flights over 80 miles, Cohen said.
Blumenauer said in a statement that he was “not against this type of space innovation”, but that things that are made “purely for tourism or entertainment” without a scientific purpose “in turn benefit the public good”.
His office also cited the environmental impact of space flights as a motivation for the tax, but said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flights for scientific research are exempt from the proposal.
Ultimate quote
“Space exploration is not a tax-free vacation for the rich. Just as ordinary Americans pay taxes on plane tickets, billionaires who go into space to produce nothing of scientific value should do the same and more, “said Blumenauer.
tangent
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who launched his first manned space flight on Tuesday, attempted to allay progressives’ concerns about the environmental impact of the flights in an MSNBC appearance on Tuesday, claiming his flight “strengthens my commitment to climate change, to the Environment”.