Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-303_6khn.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

5 

Opinion of the Court 

the  Court  concluded  that  Congress  could  do  the  same  for 
that benefits program.  446 U. S., at 651–652. 

Those two precedents dictate the result here.  The defer-
ential rational-basis test applies.  And Puerto Rico’s tax sta-
tus—in particular, the fact that residents of Puerto Rico are 
typically exempt from most federal income, gift, estate, and 
excise taxes—supplies a rational basis for likewise distin-
guishing  residents  of  Puerto  Rico  from  residents  of  the 
States  for  purposes  of  the  Supplemental  Security  Income 
benefits program.  See Torres, 435 U. S., at 5, n. 7; Rosario, 
446 U. S., at 652.  In devising tax and benefits programs, it
is  reasonable  for  Congress  to  take  account  of  the  general 
balance  of  benefits  to  and  burdens  on  the  residents  of 
Puerto Rico.  In doing so, Congress need not conduct a dol-
lar-to-dollar  comparison  of  how  its  tax  and  benefits  pro-
grams apply in the States as compared to the Territories, 
either at the individual or collective level.  See Torres, 435 
U. S., at 3–5, and n. 7; Rosario, 446 U. S., at 652.  Congress
need only have a rational basis for its tax and benefits pro-
grams.  Congress has satisfied that requirement here.

Moreover, Vaello Madero’s position would usher in poten-
tially far-reaching consequences.  For one, Congress would 
presumably need to extend not just Supplemental Security
Income  but  also  many  other  federal  benefits  programs  to 
residents of the Territories in the same way that those pro-
grams cover residents of the States.  And if this Court were 
to  require  identical  treatment  on  the  benefits  side,  resi-
dents  of  the  States  could  presumably  insist  that  federal 
taxes be imposed on residents of Puerto Rico and other Ter-
ritories  in  the  same  way  that  those  taxes  are  imposed  on 
residents of the States.  Doing that, however, would inflict
significant  new  financial  burdens  on  residents  of  Puerto
Rico, with serious implications for the Puerto Rican people 
and the Puerto Rican economy.  The Constitution does not