The Wall Street Journal updates us on the treasure that tax-dodging plutocrats are hiding in South Dakota:
South Dakota is one of a handful of states, including Wyoming, Nevada, and Alaska, that have no income tax and allow people to set up trusts to also be a beneficiary of them. Proponents say the state offers a host of other benefits for trusts—including protection of assets from creditors and the ability to last forever—that tip the scales in its favor.
It has become an increasingly popular place for the superrich to park their wealth, including many who don’t work in private equity. Assets in South Dakota trust companies totaled $814 billion as of the end of 2024, nearly five times where they stood at the end of 2014, according to state data [Miriam Gottfried, “Why Private-Equity Millionaires Love South Dakota,” Wall Street Journal, 2025.12.26].
Wealthy elites have quintupled their tax-free hoard in South Dakota over the last ten years. They certainly haven’t quintupled whatever meager benefit the stashing of those funds may do for the general welfare of the state that makes their tax dodge possible.
Quintupled in ten years—that’s over 16% annual growth. At that rate, the stash at year-end 2025 should be $944 billion; a year from now, over a trillion. If we raided those piggy banks, we could hand out a million dollars to every man, woman, and child in South Dakota. Or if we took just 0.1% of that hidden wealth, a trivial annual service charge for the privilege of parking such enormous wealth on our territory and avoiding the far more onerous taxes of other jurisdictions, we’d get a billion dollars, enough that we could pay for reducing property taxes by 50%, far more serious, budget-neutral property tax relief than has been floated by any of our elected leaders.
But no—South Dakota public officials think we have a patriotic duty to help the superrich evade their patriotic duty to pay taxes. South Dakota officials choose instead to help the rich get richer while the poor stay poor.
Government picking winners and losers in South Dakota? How conservative!
That’s why the super rich laugh. If this avenue went away there are always many more roads to drive their Bugatti’s down.
Wow!
More to follow. Wowed by the golden glitter of trump’s oval office AND his West Wing sign.
(ballroom barf)
ps-i note SD legislature is recently covering its tail! I thought the tribes who exclude Noem’s presence were the crime lords, according to SD GOP! Meth, money laundering? https://www.mykxlg.com/news/state/four-sentenced-in-major-drug-and-money-laundering-conspiracy/article_f29de2d0-8752-11ef-b5f4-5329e1bd8b10.html
“specific regulations in South Dakota regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures for financial institutions.
The South Dakota Division of Banking, which regulates state-chartered banks and trust companies, sets forth specific KYC requirements under the South Dakota Codified Laws Chapter 51A-4.”
2024: https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/tracing-firms-say-binances-clean-up-claims-left-out-key-crime-stats/
or;
2025: https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/swiss-lawyer-from-panama-papers-firm-to-face-court-on-tax-evasion-charges/
This is going to be good :) This is NOT fine (as the meme has evolved despite Putin, AND radical right’s amelioration)!
“2023-04-29
grudznick
People who have money need a place to put it. This is all just fine. Stop being so jealous of these fellows, they’re not hurting you.”
https://www.icij.org/investigations/russia-archive/why-are-russian-disinformation-campaigns-citing-icij/
In February 2019, it was reported that Mary Daly, the oldest daughter of United States Attorney General William Barr, is to leave her position at the United States Deputy Attorney General’s office for a FinCEN position.[38][39][40] wiki
Great minds think alike, eh? JFC
https://www.codastory.com/newsletters/south-dakota-money-laundering/
Bah. It’s their money and they can keep it where they want.
As if the industry weren’t employing people at high rates of pay who also happen to live here. And bringing travel dollars to the state. You want to pay each South Dakotan one million dollars? Pretty good deal, good logic, so I see why you’d like it
What a sickening story… if Congress is looking for an area to get some money, this would be a damn good place to look!!
Minutes before he was driven from the White House Herr Trump pardoned Butina’s lover, Paul Erickson at Noem’s request. Butina was deported for being a Russian agent but it was actually to protect Donald Trump. The Council for National Policy has infiltrated Pierre and the extremist South Dakota Legislature because banks in my home state are hoarding nearly $4 TRILLION for its members including Robert Mercer, a CNP member and Long Island hedge-fund manager who bankrolled Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns. According to accountant and former State Senator Susan Wismer (D-Britton) there are about $900 billion in 105 trusts alone.
Anarcho-capitalists Frank Farrar and Bill Janklow created these financial black holes.
Baloney, Steel. Just how many people travel here just because they have money stashed in our trusts? Exactly how many jobs does the trust industry create? Does any of that meager and thus far unquantified economic benefit outweigh the enormous harm we do by letting the rich hide and concentrate their wealth and thus their power while starving public institutions?
The avoidance of taxation is only step one of the process that has inverted the whole funding of government. Now, not only do the wealthy not pay taxes, but also the government continues to increase spending, causing YUGE deficits that are paid for through the selling of bonds — bonds held by . . . the wealthy. Instead of the government being run on the tax dollars, the government is run on the loaned money from the wealthy that they get returned with interest.
That puts the wealthy in possession of the purse stings. Tax policy has created a LITERAL economic oligarchy of ownership of the government.
The poor are the only saps not getting a return on their investment (taxes) as services for them continue to be cut at the alter of wealth concentration through austerity.