Perhaps we’ll meet there.

I want to go to space. Bad. Bad enough, if fact, to enter a social media contest (ugh!) and spam my friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ (double-ugh). Bad enough to like a personal odor control product — Axe Body Spray.

Yeah, that’s the one in the commercials where the guy sprays himself with deodorant and hot girls pop out of impossible places to get their hands on this suddenly irresistibly luscious dude. Unrealistic and sexist in the extreme, I know, even if it is every red-blooded hetero guy’s dream.

Vote for Pedro!

But I’m gritting my teeth and bearing it (and maybe you should too) because Axe is running a contest to send 22 people to space. I could be one of them … and so could you. All you have to do is sell your social media soul and whore your connections out to Unilever, which owns the Axe brand, in an attempt to gain precious votes.

The winner will travel 103 kilometers (64 miles) up from planet Earth and out of the atmosphere into space in an SXC space plane with only the pilot for company. The ship is less than 30 feet long and powered by four XR-5K18 liquid fueled re-ignitable rocket engines, giving it 11,600 pounds of thrust. And you’ll have an amazing 12-foot wide cockpit window to see deep space — and the blue planet below — in all its glory.

The trip of a lifetime? I think so:

If you enter and are lucky enough to win the first stage, you’ll need to attend “Global Space Camp” in Orlando, Florida during December 2013, where you’ll meet international contestants and compete for the chance to go to space. Competing involves traveling in a supersonic jet plane, experiencing zero-G in a short parabolic airplane flight, and being tested in a massive centrifuge that will put your body under 6Gs of acceleration.

Little hint: barf and you’re probably out.

Those who pass the tests will then continue on to the little Caribbean island of Curaçao, where they’ll take off in the SXC space plane and experience space flight firsthand. Tickets for that little 60-mile trip, by the way, start out at $95,000. Fortunately, Axe is picking up the tab — if you win.

Enter here. Or, you could just vote for me.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

This week’s tax question:

If I live abroad, and my businesses are all online, do I still have to pay U.S. taxes?

We passed the question on to Michael Bowen of the law firm Akerman Senterfitt, where he’s chair of the state and local taxation practice. He also is a guest lecturer at Harvard University on corporate taxation. Here’s his answer:

This question – although simple – elicits a somewhat complicated answer.

First, it’s important to distinguish between federal as opposed to state and local taxes. In general, if the businesses are incorporated, domiciled, etc., in a foreign country and the owner is not a U.S. citizen, then no federal taxes would be due. If either of these assumptions is incorrect, the answer can quickly change depending on the specific facts. The other complicating factor on the federal side is the presence or absence of a tax treaty existing between the U.S. and the home country of the business. A tax treaty may provide additional protections to a foreign business not otherwise available in the general federal income tax law. (Look on the IRS website for detailed information about such treaties.)

State and local taxes should be considered separately. This is true whether or not federal taxes apply. In the U.S., states are sovereign and have their own tax laws. The state and local rules of taxation vary widely across jurisdictions. To add a further layer of complexity, unlike federal tax, there are many varying types of state and local taxes. For example, there are corporate excise taxes, gross receipts taxes, sales tax, use taxes, franchise taxes and net worth taxes—to name a few.

The fact that the business is online (or virtual) does not necessarily mean that it will escape federal or state and local taxes. Much will depend on the specific facts of the case and what states and localities it does business.

Disclaimer: This “Ask the accountant” article discusses general legal, tax and financial issues, but it does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice in any respect. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information presented herein without seeking the advice of appropriate professionals in the relevant jurisdiction. VentureBeat, the author and the author’s firm expressly disclaim all liability in respect of any actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post.

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