To the moon, Alice — to the moon!.Canadian businesses hoping to get into some lunar mining have been asking MPs for federal tax credits, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Two years ago, the Liberals declared outer space a national asset..Promoters petitioned the Commons finance committee for Income Tax Act amendments to make space explorers eligible for a 15% Mineral Exploration Tax Credit..The Earthly credit costs taxpayers $70 million a year and it is due to expire in 2024..“Canadian mining corporations would typically be entitled to a foreign tax credit under Canadian tax rules,” read a submission by Canadian Space Mining Corp., a Toronto promoter..Mining the moon and asteroids should be considered “foreign operations,” it said..“Canadian Space Mining Corporation is going to the moon,” wrote promoters..“We believe that doing so is in the national interest.”.The company seeks tax write-offs of business expenses under its plan to mine lunar dust for hydrogen and oxygen. Space Mining Corp. proposes to build a water plant on the moon for use as a fueling station by space explorers..“All space mining activities and sale of products will occur outside the jurisdictional boundaries of Canada, therefore taxation would be considered extraterrestrial and so mining operations in outer space could be considered as ‘foreign operations’,” said the submission..“Foreign mining activities are located on the moon, asteroids or other planetary bodies, but since there is no formal taxation treaty with these outer space bodies, Canada’s rights to tax are not limited by the terms of a tax treaty, and to the extent that income or profit taxes are levied in the foreign jurisdiction where such activities are carried on, the Canadian mining corporation would typically be entitled to a foreign tax credit under Canadian tax rules.”.Another Toronto mining promoter, Interstellar Mining Inc., petitioned for tax credits to mine asteroids for iron ore, nickel and precious metals “with much higher concentrations than those found on Earth,” it wrote the finance committee..“Estimates of the market value of these resources are in the trillions of dollars,” wrote Interstellar..The Canadian Space Agency in 2020 budgeted $300,000 for research on the “business case” for going to the moon..Cabinet in 2019 approved $2 billion for a Lunar Gateway project..“Space is a national asset,” then-Industry Minister Navdeep Bains said at the time..“The Government of Canada has a forward-looking vision for its space program.”.Canada in 1962 became the third nation in space after Soviet Russia and the U.S. with the launch of the Alouette I satellite. Federal space funding has since varied with 85% cuts to the Space Agency budget and the elimination of a $33.9 million Space Technology Research Program following the 2008 financial panic.
