What residents are required to do while living in the USA [closed]

Question

What's missing from the list below? All the online resources seem devoted to immigration requirements. Regardless of how you came to live in the USA, what are subsequent required actions that essentially every resident must deal with? (If it's not detailed on this list, you'll probably never be concerned with it, eg, gun registration laws and other situations that don't apply to most residents. ) Even if you obey all state and federal laws and therefore are otherwise left alone, these are items essentially everyone still gets poked with regularly:

Federal requirements

• If I'm a paid employee, I must contribute a portion of each paycheck to Medicare, Social Security, and federal tax withholding.
• I must file a federal income tax statement each year or meet required exceptions.
• If I'm not a citizen, I must get a visa or green card.
• If a male citizen, I must register for the draft at age 18.
• I must reply to inquires by the Census Bureau.

State requirements

• In most states, if I'm a paid employee, I must contribute a portion of each paycheck to worker disability insurance and state tax withholding.
• In most states, I must file a state income tax statement each year or meet required exceptions.
• In most states, I have to pay city and/or county tax on many categories of items I purchase.
• As a child, I must attend school or be home-schooled.
• As a child, I must be vaccinated or get an exemption.
• I must pay tax each year on property I own.
• If I drive a vehicle, I must get a license and pay insurance or a fee/bond. If I own a vehicle, I must register it and pay fees.
• In some states, I must pay for health insurance or pay a penalty or get an exemption.
• I must appear for jury duty or get an exemption.

Answer 1

As user6726 pointed out, you need a more rigorous definition of "essentially every resident" in order to generate a meaningful list. You do say "required actions" so it seems clear your intention is to list items requiring effort (paying, registering, serving, filing, etc.) as opposed to simply following laws through inaction (not killing someone, not speeding, etc.).

In my case, I've had to do 4 of your 5 federal requirements and 8 of your 9 state requirements. I doubt many people have had to do all of them. But offhand, I can't think of any other items I've been required to do (ie, some law that required me to get off my butt and take some particular action).

Instead of "essentially every resident" lets say "a majority" (over 50%). Green cards drop off the list since most residents are citizens, draft registration drops off the list because most residents are female, property tax falls off the list because although the majority of homes are owned by their occupants the majority of people don't own a home, and so on. Therefore you'll find your list grows or shrinks depending on exactly who you're talking about.

Answer 2

The list is enormous.

For example, if subpoenaed to appear in a legal case, you must appear pursuant to the order. If ordered to pay child support, you must pay child support. If you are an executive in a company, you may not act on the basis of non-private information regarding the company. Your comment that "If it's not detailed on this list, you'll probably never be concerned with it, eg, gun registration laws and other situations that don't apply to most residents" applies to a number of things on the list, for example most people are not called for jury duty, probably the majority of people are not subject to property tax requirements. most people do not have to register for the draft. By adding "If X...", you can make these into universal rules – everybody that meets the filing requirements must file federal income taxes. Non-citizens have a few additional requirements, but they are a drop in the bucket compared to the general case, obey the law which applies to everyone.

Answer 3

Several of your points are misleading if not actually incorrect:

• If I'm a paid employee, I must contribute a portion of each paycheck to Medicare, Social Security, and federal tax withholding.

Your employer does this, not you. If you are self-employed, you must pay estimated taxes quarterly.

• If I'm not a citizen, I must get a visa or green card.

This is a prerequisite to becoming a resident, so it is not a "subsequent required action" to be done "while living in the USA."

• If a male citizen, I must register for the draft at age 18.

Draft registration applies to all male residents, regardless of citizenship, but subject to a few exceptions. From Who Needs To Register on the SSS website:

With very few exceptions, all males between ages 18 and 25 must register with the Selective Service System (SSS) within 30 days of arriving in the United States. This includes U.S. born and naturalized citizens, parolees, undocumented immigrants, legal permanent residents, asylum seekers, refugees, and all males with visas of any kind which expired more than 30 days ago.

(I believe the SSS is using the common imprecise sense of "visa" to mean "immigration status," since a visa's expiration date has no bearing on the validity of the bearer's status in the US.)

• In most states, if I'm a paid employee, I must contribute a portion of each paycheck to worker disability insurance and state tax withholding.

As with federal taxes, employees don't need to worry about this; it's handled by the employer.

• In most states, I have to pay city and/or county tax on many categories of items I purchase.

Most states have sales tax at the state level, although there are some where the rate varies by municipality. Regardless, the merchant handles this so it's not something you need to think about. Furthermore, it applies to nonresident visitors, too, so it doesn't really belong on this list.

• I must appear for jury duty or get an exemption.

This applies only to citizens. There is also federal jury duty. And you don't need to appear unless summoned, which usually won't happen unless you have a driver's license or appear in various other sources for jury rolls, such as property records.