On October 10, 2021, the ” lahora.gt” website published about tax havens in the USA. Let’s see:
1. The Pandora papers
According to the aforementioned website, the publication of the Pandora Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has shown the financial dealings of the elite, the corrupt, and the offshore accounts and tax havens misusing to protect trillions of dollars in assets.
2. Suspicious accounts in the U.S.
According to the report, there are also secret accounts in trusts throughout the United States, including 81 in South Dakota, 37 in Florida, and 35 in Florida.
The most alarming thing is that among the alleged owners of these accounts are the Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso, relatives of Carlos Morales Troncoso, sugar businessman and former vice president of the Dominican Republic, and David Tassillo, co-owner of the pornographic website Pornhub.
3. Background and facts
As detailed, South Dakota launched its financial industry in 1980, when banks had to pay more interest than they could charge under the law. The authorities removed the cap on the interest rates banks could charge and invited Citibank to launch a credit card department there to help local banking and revitalize the ailing economy. Soon after, other banks followed suit.
For 2019, there were more than 100 financial companies with total assets valued at about $370 billion. One company alone, South Dakota Trust Company LLC, boasts on its website of managing more than $100 billion in assets and more than 100 multimillion-dollar clients. Families from 54 countries comprise 15% of its clientele, the company says.
4. Current situation: Finance Companies
There are currently 47 financial companies in the state for a total of $3.8 billion in assets. Taxes on financial companies are the second-largest source of revenue for the state (after personal profit taxes) for a total of nearly $1.3 billion per year.
5. Reasons for Tax Heavens
One of the reasons why the wealthy deposit their money in such states is due to the repeal of laws by the authorities against the transfer of funds to descendants, allowing the proliferation of intergenerational family funds, in which a family’s fortune can pass from generation to generation without paying taxes.
Another reason is the absence of taxes because taxes are free in Delaware as long as the beneficiary is not a resident of the state. In South Dakota, there are no personal income, corporate income, or capital gains taxes.
Source: La Hora 12/10/21