Shortly after completing his eleven - minute sojourn to theedge of space , a euphoricJeff Bezosproclaimed his gratitude for those who forge for and purchase item from Amazon , without whom the subocular charge would not have been possible . Speaking at the post - flight closet conference , the Amazon father draw laughter from the assembled journalist but has provoked ire among a act of commentators .
In a tweet , Senator Elizabeth Warren retorted that “ Jeff Bezos forgot to thank all the hardworking Americans who actually paid taxes to keep this country running while he and Amazon bear nothing , ” before announce her design to agitate for reforms that would “ make billionaires and mega - corporations start paying their fair parcel . ”
Similarly , Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer tweeted : “ We pay revenue enhancement on plane just the ticket . billionaire fly into quad — bring about no scientific time value — should do the same , and then some ! ”
Blumenauer blend on to announce that he has introduced new legislation scream the Securing Protections Against Carbon Emissions ( SPACE ) Tax Act , which would visit taxes on space tourer so as to offset theenvironmental impact of Eruca sativa launching .
Much of the criticism level at Bezos relates to a recentreportwhich found that he – along with several other billionaire – give a staggeringly humiliated amount of income tax . According to IRS documents , the Blue Origin founder attend his personal note value increase by $ 99 billion between 2014 and 2018 , yet paid less than $ 100 million in taxes during this period of time – a tax charge per unit of less than one percentage .
Contrastingly , the mediocre American household take in around $ 70,000 a year during that period , and paid federal taxes at a rate of 14 percent .
In both 2007 and 2011 , Bezos paid no Union income tax at all , while Amazon also avert paying any tax in 2017 and 2018 , despite making billions of one dollar bill in profit .
respond to these criticisms , Bezos insists that his recent misstep to blank space was anything but a pleasure - ride , and that by develop reusable rockets , Blue Origin is helping to reduce the price of quad travel so that future generations can rule newfangled solutions to the environmental crisis . “ to preserve Earth , Blue Origin believes that humanity will need to expand , research , detect novel energy and material resources , and move industry that stress Earth into blank , ” proclaims the company’smission statement .
For what it ’s worth , Bezos was also the leading kindly donor in the US last year , pledge $ 10 billion to launch the Bezos Earth Fund while also contributing $ 100 million to Feeding America , which provides life-sustaining supply to nutrient bank around the res publica .
