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In Spider-Man: Homecoming,

Ned asks Peter Parker if Thor has to pay taxes when he is on Earth.

So does Thor have to pay taxes on Earth?

I am adding the comics tag because I do not recall this being mentioned in the movies. I imagine that it was just a kid question in the movie, but I wonder if there is a real answer.

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    Why would he? AFAIK, he doesn't own any residence and he doesn't have an income. Those are usually the two things that people pay taxes on. Obviously, if he buys anything, he'd pay the sales tax as well, but I don't think that really counts.
    – j4eo
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 5:35
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    @j4eo: sales tax totally counts. Don’t let Big Government convince you otherwise! I don’t think we’ve ever seen him buy anything though. You eat schwarma with Thor, you’re getting stuck with the cheque.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 9:28
  • He is also a Prince of Asgard, surely he gets diplomatic immunity for taxes, as other similar positioned people do?
    – Sarriesfan
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 19:00
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    @Sarriesfan - Being a prince of somewhere doesn't exempt you from taxes if you live somewhere else. Most of the time it doesn't even exempt you from taxes in your home country unless you're the heir
    – Valorum
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 20:58
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    This is a silly question, it was a throwaway comedic line from the movie, not to be taken seriously.
    – Möoz
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 1:31

3 Answers 3

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Specifically referencing "Thor: volume 3", which takes place during the Civil War timeline (which is roughly what timeline the movies currently follow, though they are vastly different in execution). Asgard is brought to hover above Earth, and due to a "disagreement" between Thor and Iron Man regarding the Registration act and the theft of Thor's DNA to create the character Ragnarok, Asgard is declared a Diplomatic Embassy.

This results in an interesting situation, as being a Diplomatic Ambassador doesn't necessarially make you tax exempt. From the research I've conducted, it is primarially based on reciprocity, so "do our ambassadors pay taxes in your country of origin?". Assuming a human of Earth were to form a diplomatic embassy on asgard, it's unlikely that they would be required to pay taxes (as it's basically Norse heaven and likely doesn't have a tax collector) so it can be assumed that as an ambassador of Asgard, he would not have to pay taxes to the foriegn nation of the United States. The question is kind of silly, as j4eo mentioned above, because he doesn't own property or have an income, but it was interesting to research and find out. If you are interested in any of the above info, the state diplomatic information was from U.S.C. 4301-4316, which sets out the rules regarding forigen embasies and their various law (diplomatic immunity) and tax exemptions.

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There is this from the US IRS: US IRS Non Resident Aliens

  • Is Thor engaged or considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the United States during said year of question?
  • Has Thor ever held a non paid tax liability to the US IRS before?
  • Was Thor ever a representative or agent responsible for filing the return of an individual described in (1) or (2), -[perhaps... Jane Foster hmm?]-

He is now residing with a roommate in Australia, according to Marvel. There is a short of him paying his roommate for rent on the web so perhaps he is working under the table? If so, he would likely have to pay taxes in the country he resides in.

Who tells Thor he has to pay taxes anyway? Perhaps he would get a pass for saving man kind and all...

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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – Null ♦
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 20:46
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Let's keep in mind that Thor was at least, initially, an illegal alien. My understanding of US Federal law is that illegal aliens are still subject to an income tax. Thor appears to currently be in Australia, I don't know Australian tax policy but perhaps he can pay in Asgardian Gold.

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