On the way out of the office, I told my new coworker “Have a good Independence Day,” and he responded without missing a beat, “You too, it’s the last one!” lol, fuk
Yes! America does not believe in taxing people without representation. Well, except American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
The tax situation for U.S. territories is complex and varies between them. Here’s a brief overview:
Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands:
Residents generally do not pay federal income tax on local income. They do pay federal payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). They have their own tax systems.
Guam and Northern Mariana Islands:
Have a “mirror” tax system that parallels the U.S. federal tax system. Residents pay taxes to the territorial government instead of to the U.S. federal government.
American Samoa:
Has its own tax system. Residents generally do not pay federal income taxes.
However, there are exceptions:
Federal employees in these territories generally pay federal income tax. Residents with income sources from the U.S. mainland may need to pay federal taxes on that income. Some residents may need to file U.S. tax returns under certain circumstances.
It’s important to note that while residents of these territories may not pay federal income taxes in many cases, they also don’t have full representation in Congress and can’t vote in U.S. presidential elections (though they may participate in primary elections).
This is actually the big wrench in just making them all states, some of the locals think the representation is worth missing out on to continue not needing to pay federal taxes.
In puerto rico this is especially pronounced since that’s the territory most likely to achieve statehood in the near future considering how small the populations of all the other ones are. Even doing something extraordinary like giving out a representative for every 50k people would leave some of these places with only one rep in Congress while states like NY and California are fielding delegations of hundreds each.
I would think that the likely future of these territories are as Freely Associated States, basically independent defacto but with special benefits in exchange for staying under US military protection.
If Puerto Rico or DC achieve state status then Republicans lose Senate majority forever. If they both do, Republicans are totally fucked. Expect continued discourse of both sides disagree we can’t do this etc.
Also, for PR and USVI they would lose their Rum taxes. As island economies they are pretty limited, so they’d need to rely mostly on tourism to replace those dollars, however it’s not like they can get much more than they already do.
Not quite the same. The US has a method for territories to become a State, although it requires the US Congress to agree, and we all know how that shit show is currently.
Puerto Rico in particular has had 6 referendums on whether to petition to become a State, keep the status quo or independence. While the US Congress has sometimes stood in the way a bit (largely because of the two sided political bullshit we all deal with), the PR referendums historically have been very split, often due to confusing language.
It’s not as simple as the US outright preventing these territories from even looking at making their own decisions like with the American Colonies and British Empire.
I posit that that is true here in my neck of the woods as well. I pay my taxes but I don’t feel like anyone who represents me in local, state, or federal government has my interests at heart at all. I vote but so do all the morons around me who vote against their own interests.
I keep saying this but: No you didnt do that. Over a hundred years before America was founded, the British determined the King was not above the law when they tried and executed Charles I.
Most monarchies aren’t even absolute.
The monarch is usually subject to laws.
