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
And DC. They even have it on their license plates.
Which is so funny to me.
Like "Hey assholes, we want this!" On all the cars and all the career politicians just look away.
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.
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.
From what I understand the referendums have been close to 50-50. I would like to learn what you mean about confusing language. I'd also like to know even though I could just search it if the ballots are in English, Spanish, or the voter's choice.
And employees under 18 too.
Most monarchies aren't even absolute.
The monarch is usually subject to laws.At least modern European monarchies.
Not the British one though.
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.
