Mindy Herzfeld (Florida), SpaceX Speculation: Who Bears the Risk?, 191 Tax Notes Fed. 2235 (June 29, 2026)

But investors are presumably buying SpaceX shares on the expectation that the company will eventually become profitable. Assuming that happens, one question is how its business income might be taxed in the United States and elsewhere. Also of interest to the U.S. fisc is the extent to which other countries might seek to tax SpaceX on gross revenues rather than net income.

Overall, for 2025, SpaceX reported a domestic loss for income tax purposes of almost $4 billion and a foreign loss of $260 million, for a total net loss before income tax of $4.2 billion.

The SpaceX tax footnote shows that in 2025, the company had a current U.S. federal tax provision of approximately -$11 million, current state taxes of $18 million, and foreign taxes of $82 million for a total current provision of $89 million. But the deferred numbers are much larger. The tax provision shows U.S. federal deferred taxes of $659 million, $4 million in deferred state taxes, and -$34 million in foreign taxes, for a total deferred provision of $629 million, resulting in a total tax provision of $718 million.

The company’s reconciliation of the federal statutory rate of 21 percent — which would translate to an $886 million tax benefit — to a tax expense of $718 million was largely attributed to a change of more than $2 billion in its valuation allowance. (The reconciliation also reflects a $602 million benefit attributable to research tax credits, and $274 million in tax benefits is attributable to share-based compensation.)