Alex Zhang (Emory; Google Scholar), The Origins of U.S. Territorial Taxation and the Insular Cases, 134 Yale L.J. F. __ (2024):

This Essay examines Congress's design of territorial revenue systems during 1898-1900. Eager to protect the federal fisc, lawmakers instituted tariffs between Puerto Rico and the mainland. Their choices segregated the territories from the federal fiscal apparatus, prompted the Insular Cases, and created the territories' distinctive tax status as foreign countries.

Conclusion
This Essay has traced the origins of U.S. territorial taxation to the critical period of 1898-1900. Afraid of the fiscal costs of overseas expansion, Congress designed territorial tax systems to preserve its own revenue and the federal tax base. This history sheds light on the distinctive tax status of U.S. territories as foreign countries under the Internal Revenue Code. It also calls into question the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Congress to exclude territorial residents from SSI programs in United States v. Vaello Madero. This Essay thus joins a chorus of scholars asking Congress and the Supreme Court to rethink the territories’ fiscal and constitutional status within our democracy

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