Income tax in the United States These treaties reduce the chance of double taxation by allowing each country to fully tax its citizens and residents and reducing the amount the other country can tax them. Generally the treaties provide for reduced rates of tax on investment income and limits as to which business income can be taxed. The treaties each define which taxpayers can benefit from the treaty. The United States social insurance system is funded by a tax similar to an income tax. Social Security tax of 6.2% is imposed on wages paid to employees. The tax is imposed on both the employer and the
Hall income tax and 1960, the court rejected proposals for a general personal income tax. However, in 1981, 1991, and 1999, three different Tennessee Attorneys General issued opinions that a general income tax would not violate the state constitution. In December 2004, a commission established to study the state's tax structure said the Hall income tax was regressive, anti-competitive, and "unfairly selective." However, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) said the Hall Tax is actually the only major progressive tax levied in Tennessee—amounting to 0.4 percent of income for high-income taxpayers compared to 0.0–0.1 percent for less affluent Tennesseans. The Tennessee