“Pandora Papers”: South Dakota – the new Liechtenstein?
Status: 05.10.2021 02:56
The USA is developing more and more into a tax haven. The state of South Dakota in particular attracts wealthy people to discreetly store their money here. According to the “Pandora Papers”, the assets there are now around $ 360 billion.
“Come here and get adventure and fun,” advertises the official South Dakota tourism portal. Visitors marvel at the presidential heads of Mount Rushmore, the dramatic badlands, and the Sioux Falls waterfalls. What they don’t see is hundreds of billions of dollars hidden in South Dakota. And there is a system.
Katrin brand
ARD studio Washington
“Without ever setting foot in Sioux Falls, billionaires from Brazil, millionaires from Guatemala or Colombia have been drawn to the fact that South Dakota has marketed itself as a secret tax haven in the US,” Will Fitzgibbon hears from NPR. Fitzgibbon is part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and was involved in the “Pandora Papers”.
South Dakota is soliciting secret assets
For years the politicians in South Dakota have made sure that entrepreneurs and the rich feel at home with them. There is no income tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance tax and only low value added tax. But if investment advisors were particularly electrified, the options for trusts are.
If you don’t want anyone to know about your wealth, a consultancy advertises on the Internet, then South Dakota is the place to be: “When it comes to creditors and former spouses, South Dakota really gives you a wall of protection.”
“Only stupid people pay taxes”
The Bosarge couple’s war of divorce only recently showed how something like this works. The Texan billionaire Ed Bosarge not only wanted to lose his wife Marie after 30 years, but also make her destitute, so he hid his fortune in trusts in South Dakota. They knew so roughly about her husband’s financial affairs. Marie Bosarge told CNBC that he always said that only stupid people pay taxes. But the fact that she had no legal possibility to get hold of the trusts made her stunned.
According to the Pandora Papers, the assets housed in South Dakota are roughly $ 360 billion, a quadrupling over the past decade. The practices of the state have helped to make the United States one of the most important tax havens in the world. It’s not illegal in itself, but experts say it attracts criminals from all over the world.
Biden under pressure with justice agenda
“The offshore system is not offshore, the tax haven is in the country,” says journalist Will Fitzgibbon, and that has important consequences if it is to be a question of more responsibility and justice. President Biden wants more transparency and more fair taxation, which he violated in the election campaign. He wants to make the tax system fairer, said spokeswoman Jen Psaki just yesterday.
Biden wants to get in touch with people who don’t die for their share of taxes, regardless of whether they are entrepreneurs or private individuals. For him this is at the center of what he is currently fighting for in Congress. It is unlikely that he will be able to assert himself with the powerful states. In addition to Florida and Texas, the tax havens also include his own home state of Delaware.
South Dakota – the new Liechtenstein?
Katrin Brand, ARD Washington, October 5, 2021 7:44 am