*The US has no national VAT or GST; sales tax is set at the state and local level and varies widely (0% to over 10% combined, depending on state and locality) - see VAT/GST section below.
United States's headline corporate income tax (CIT) rate is Federal 21%; state 1-12% additional.
The headline personal income tax (PIT) rate is 37.
0% at the federal level - the US has no national VAT or GST. Sales tax is instead imposed at the state and local level, varies widely by jurisdiction (no sales tax in some states; combined state/local rates exceeding 10% in others), and is administered separately from federal tax.
An individual is a US tax resident for the year if they meet either the Green Card Test (held lawful permanent resident status at any point in the year) or the Substantial Presence Test under IRC §7701(b)(3): physically present at least 31 days in the current year, and at least 183 days counting all current-year days, 1/3 of the prior year's days, and 1/6 of the days from two years prior. US residents are taxed on worldwide income; nonresidents generally only on US-source income and income effectively connected with a US trade or business.
A foreign corporation is a Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) under IRC §957 if US shareholders (each owning at least 10% of vote or value) collectively own more than 50% of the corporation's vote or value. Those 10%-plus US shareholders must include their pro rata share of the CFC's Subpart F income and Net CFC Tested Income (NCTI) - the regime renamed from GILTI by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, P.L. 119-21) for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. Under OBBBA, the IRC §250 deduction for NCTI drops to 40% and the 10% Qualified Business Asset Investment (QBAI) exclusion is eliminated, producing a US effective rate of approximately 12.6% on CFC tested income for corporate shareholders claiming the full deemed-paid foreign tax credit (increased to 90% under OBBBA). OBBBA also reinstated IRC §958(b)(4) (blocking certain downward attribution) while adding new IRC §951B to capture specific foreign-controlled CFC structures.
IRC §163(j) caps the deduction for business interest expense at 30% of Adjusted Taxable Income (ATI), plus business interest income and floor-plan financing interest. OBBBA permanently restored an EBITDA-based ATI calculation (adding back depreciation, amortization, and depletion) for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, reversing the stricter EBIT-based method that applied for 2022-2024. Disallowed interest carries forward indefinitely. The limitation applies only to taxpayers whose average gross receipts over the prior three years exceed the indexed small-business threshold (approximately $31 million for 2025).
The US maintains income tax treaties with approximately 65 countries per the IRS's Table 3 (current as of early 2026), reducing withholding rates on dividends, interest, and royalties and providing double-tax relief and Mutual Agreement Procedure dispute resolution. Several former Soviet republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) remain covered by the original US-USSR treaty pending individually negotiated replacements. The Hungary treaty was terminated effective January 1, 2024 with no replacement in force. For the full text of every US income tax treaty and protocol, and the current authoritative list, see the IRS United States Income Tax Treaties - A to Z.