Capital Gains Tax in U.S. Territories (2026)
Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands file under their own or “mirror” tax systems — not the 50-state federal framework this site’s calculator models. Here’s how capital gains work in each.
Reviewed & updated · Statutory framework and sources · See IRS Publication 570
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico maintains its own tax system, administered by the Departamento de Hacienda. Under IRC §933, bona-fide residents of Puerto Rico generally exclude Puerto Rico–source income from U.S. federal tax, and capital gains on Puerto Rico assets are taxed under Puerto Rico’s own Internal Revenue Code rather than the federal 0/15/20% schedule. Income sourced to the U.S. mainland, and gains realized by non-residents, can still be subject to U.S. federal tax. Puerto Rico has also offered residency-based investment-incentive programs with preferential treatment for qualifying new residents.
Guam
Guam is a “mirror code” jurisdiction: it applies the U.S. Internal Revenue Code as its own local income tax, administered by the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation. In practice the federal capital-gains framework applies — short-term gains as ordinary income, long-term gains under the 0/15/20% structure — but the tax is paid to Guam rather than to the IRS.
U.S. Virgin Islands
The U.S. Virgin Islands also uses the mirror-code system, administered by its Bureau of Internal Revenue, so capital gains follow the federal Internal Revenue Code structure with the tax paid to the territory. The USVI additionally offers economic-development incentives that can reduce tax for qualifying residents and businesses.
American Samoa
American Samoa maintains its own income tax code — largely modeled on, but not a pure mirror of, the U.S. Internal Revenue Code — administered by the American Samoa Tax Office. Capital-gains treatment broadly tracks the federal framework, with the specifics set by local law.
Northern Mariana Islands
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) applies the U.S. Internal Revenue Code as a mirror code through its Division of Revenue and Taxation, so capital gains follow the federal structure with the tax paid to the CNMI. Local provisions can affect the final amount a resident owes.
Where these rules come from
The controlling federal references are IRS Publication 570 — Tax Guide for Individuals With Income From U.S. Possessions and 26 U.S.C. §933 (the Puerto Rico exclusion). Because each territory sets and updates its own rates and incentives, always confirm the current figures with the territory’s tax authority before filing. This page describes the framework and does not publish territory rate tables.