Income tax in the United States dates. Some states permit related corporations to file combined or consolidated returns. Most states and localities imposing income tax require estimated payments where tax exceeds certain thresholds, and require withholding tax on payment of wages. Puerto Rico is treated as a separate taxing entity from the USA; its income tax rates are set independently, and only some residents there pay federal income taxes (though everyone must pay all other federal taxes). The unincorporated territories Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands also impose income tax separately, under a "mirror" tax law based on federal income tax law. Proposals have been
Income tax in the United States on saved income is itself taxed. To the extent that this is considered unjust, it may be remedied in a variety of ways, e.g. excluding investment income from taxable income, making investments deductible and therefore only taxing them when gains are realized, or replacing the income tax by other forms of tax, such as a sales tax. Some economists believe income taxation offers the federal government a technique to diminish the power of the states, because the federal government is then able to distribute funding to states with conditions attached, often giving the states no choice but to submit to