...and this is where Puerto Rico's status comes into picture. PR's tax rate at the highest level is 33%. If you want to go higher, wealthy Puerto Ricans just de

...and this is where Puerto Rico's status comes into picture. PR's tax rate at the highest level is 33%. If you want to go higher, wealthy Puerto Ricans just decamp to Florida (no state income taxes!) and fly in as needed. The corporate tax base has also dwindled. Still, PR has raised taxes - across the board, but due to the wealthy's ability to decamp, these tax increases are disproportionately felt by the middle and lower classes. Additionally, the costs of goods and services is much higher than in the states. GDP per capita doesn't measure purchase power parity, and your dollars in PR don't go nearly as far as they do in the USA. Energy costs, water costs, shipping costs, are all much higher in other countries, and legislation (such as the Jones Act) that helps mainland USA hurts PR. PR is trapped, and has a perpetual brain drain of people escaping. It has a negative population growth of -2% a year (in a heavily Catholic country), and GDP growth has been negative for 13 years in a row. More austerity measures are not going to help the situation.