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SpaceX tax breaks: More stuff plutocrats can do that you can't

Visbek

Visbek

Stuck In The Circle
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NY Times article:
www.nytimes.com

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Most Likely Doesn’t Pay Taxes

Elon Musk’s rocket company relies on federal contracts, but years of losses have most likely let it avoid paying federal income taxes, according to internal company documents.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Long story short, SpaceX racked up enormous losses in for years, totaling around $5 billion. This means they can deduct over $3 billion from their federal taxes. They might be able to avoid paying federal taxes for years, possibly decades.

Take a wild guess who eliminated the 20-year expiration date for using business losses as a deduction? :unsure:
Take a wild guess who else has benefitted enormously this tax change? :unsure: (Hint: It's the same goon who eliminated the expiration date.)

The original idea was that a company in trouble could stay in business longer if it didn't have to pay taxes in bad years. Obviously, this *cough* noble sentiment has become corrupted, and isn't applicable to individuals.

And guess what? Yep, SpaceX has received billions from government contracts. Funny how DOGE didn't cancel any of those, yeah?
 
You think this is new? The well connected are well connected in Washington. That's just another reason why all donations made to political candidates and parties should be fully disclosed with names of all involved in the donations.
 
I remember hearing how we'd make more progress in space tech if we just let the "freh murket" take it over. Meanwhile, we don’t have better propulsion tech than we did decades ago, all the taxpayer money goes to corporate welfare for Elon Musk, and he can get away with many more failed launches than NASA ever could.
 
The Populist Right said:
I remember hearing how we'd make more progress in space tech if we just let the "freh murket" take it over. Meanwhile, we don’t have better propulsion tech than we did decades ago, all the taxpayer money goes to corporate welfare for Elon Musk, and he can get away with many more failed launches than NASA ever could.
Click to expand...
They just hired all the NASA people and removed all guard rails. Like every "privatization" move, we just pay more for the same thing while people scrape billions off in profit.
 
Visbek said:
NY Times article:
www.nytimes.com

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Most Likely Doesn’t Pay Taxes

Elon Musk’s rocket company relies on federal contracts, but years of losses have most likely let it avoid paying federal income taxes, according to internal company documents.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Long story short, SpaceX racked up enormous losses in for years, totaling around $5 billion. This means they can deduct over $3 billion from their federal taxes. They might be able to avoid paying federal taxes for years, possibly decades.
Click to expand...
So what exactly is your problem? This is how income tax typically works: you pay tax on your income, which is net earnings that obviously includes losses.
 
Visbek said:
NY Times article:
www.nytimes.com

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Most Likely Doesn’t Pay Taxes

Elon Musk’s rocket company relies on federal contracts, but years of losses have most likely let it avoid paying federal income taxes, according to internal company documents.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Long story short, SpaceX racked up enormous losses in for years, totaling around $5 billion. This means they can deduct over $3 billion from their federal taxes. They might be able to avoid paying federal taxes for years, possibly decades.

Take a wild guess who eliminated the 20-year expiration date for using business losses as a deduction? :unsure:
Take a wild guess who else has benefitted enormously this tax change? :unsure: (Hint: It's the same goon who eliminated the expiration date.)

The original idea was that a company in trouble could stay in business longer if it didn't have to pay taxes in bad years. Obviously, this *cough* noble sentiment has become corrupted, and isn't applicable to individuals.

And guess what? Yep, SpaceX has received billions from government contracts. Funny how DOGE didn't cancel any of those, yeah?
Click to expand...
We've had a problem for a long time with the intertwining of the Corporate Oligarchy and government. Long have both the R's and D's made these sorts of rules for corporations and the extremely wealthy to give them loopholes around tax laws, to find ways in which to enable them to exploit the system while holding everyone else to a different standard. Trump didn't create this system. He is changing it, though. He's going to exacerbate many of these loopholes and tax shelters and allow the rich and corporations to exploit the system and workers even more, all while pushing us away from a capitalist system into a mercantile system. This is how China runs its shit, and that's the direction MAGA wants to go.

Trump is just another rich dude exploiting the system, and now he has the ability to set the rules. He's gonna make it so the Oligarchy becomes entrenched to the State and that Dear Leader and Party will have greater control over them. Play by the rules, be nice, worship Dear Leader and your billions are safe. Speak out against Dear Leader and Party...well there's always someone else willing to play the loyal patsy to take your place.
 
Aren’t those ‘special’ accounting methods (included in the FIT code) wonderful? ;)
 
Perhaps the next regime will consider seizing space edolf and absorbing it into NASA. It wouldn't even completely be theft. We've been renting to own for years.
 
Integrityrespec said:
You think this is new? The well connected are well connected in Washington. That's just another reason why all donations made to political candidates and parties should be fully disclosed with names of all involved in the donations.
Click to expand...
Or...that's why we should have publicly funded, limited campaign windows and term limits for all elected offices.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Sure there is - allowing ‘negative’ annual income during one (tax) year to reduce taxable annual income in subsequent (tax) years.
Click to expand...
Again, that’s not a loophole. Also, SpaceX has never been profitable so it makes no effective difference. The only reason we still have a functioning space program is because Elon Musk is eccentric enough to flush billions of dollars of his own money down the tubes for entertainment.
 
Napoleon said:
Again, that’s not a loophole. Also, SpaceX has never been profitable so it makes no effective difference. The only reason we still have a functioning space program is because Elon Musk is eccentric enough to flush billions of dollars of his own money down the tubes for entertainment.
Click to expand...

Hmm…

SpaceX's valuation has significantly increased over the years, from $27 million in 2002 to a reported $210 billion in 2024. In 2023, SpaceX's revenue reached $14.2 billion, with Starlink contributing significantly to this growth.
Click to expand...

*above quote is from Google’s AI Overview*
 
Napoleon said:
Again, that’s not a loophole. Also, SpaceX has never been profitable so it makes no effective difference. The only reason we still have a functioning space program is because Elon Musk is eccentric enough to flush billions of dollars of his own money down the tubes for entertainment.
Click to expand...
It's literally right on the IRS's website (probably not that specific item, but something that uses the same concept).

Topic no. 409, Capital gains and losses | Internal Revenue Service

IRS Tax Topic on capital gains tax rates, and additional information on capital gains and losses.
www.irs.gov www.irs.gov
You don't even need to dig that far. Any basic DIY tax software will do it for you automatically:

What is a capital loss carryover?

You can deduct up to $3,000 in capital losses ($1,500 if you're Married Filing Separately). Losses beyond that amount can be deducted on future returns as a cap
ttlc.intuit.com ttlc.intuit.com

Not sure why the left is acting like it's some super secret "loophole" snuck into the tax code for billionaires.
 
iliveonramen said:
They just hired all the NASA people and removed all guard rails. Like every "privatization" move, we just pay more for the same thing while people scrape billions off in profit.
Click to expand...
Didn't NASA pay Russia to launch astronauts into space, because it was far cheaper than NASA could do (after they killed a bunch of astronauts) and SpaceX has lowered the cost so drastically that no other country or organization can compete on safety or price?
 
Cosmo said:
So what exactly is your problem? This is how income tax typically works: you pay tax on your income, which is net earnings that obviously includes losses.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes:

The ceiling on carrying over capital losses for individuals is $3,000 per year.

There is no ceiling for the losses corporations can carry over.

SpaceX is probably worth $350 billion, and it doesn't pay federal taxes. It could be profitable for 20, 30, 40 years and still zero out its federal tax liabilities, while collecting money from the federal government the entire time.

NOW do you see the problems?
 
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