Do Rich Men Go to Heaven, or just to Texas? StatisNostics breaks down how J.B. Pritzker gamed the legal system to move his trusts from one state to another.

In the Bible, Jesus Christ talks about the rich and the kingdom of God in the book of Matthew. He tells his disciples that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Essentially, Jesus is saying that people who focus on gathering riches make it harder for themselves to get into heaven. So begins our story:

In the 2000s, years before his 2018 Illinois governor election, J.B. Pritzker attempted to move all of his Illinois trusts to Texas as well as demanded a return of the income tax he paid on said trusts from the Illinois government. Pritzker argued that while the predecessors of these trusts were related to Illinois, the trusts now had the benefits and protections of Texas law. Spoiler alert: he won. In 2005, it was deemed by the probate court of Harris County, Texas that all of Pritzker’s trusts had their situs of administration (primary jurisdiction) in Harris County instead of Illinois. 

Why did Pritzker go through all the legal trouble of moving his assets from one state to another? Four words: more money, less taxes. According to StatisNostics, a database that utilizes U.S. government census data, the debt burden per person in Illinois cities is much higher than in Texan cities. For instance, the debt burden per capita is $80,609 in Naperville, $98,963 in Oakbrook, and $106,279 in Chicago, IL. Down south, the debt burden per capita is only $77,747 in Houston, TX, $78,674 in San Antonio, and $83,535 in Dallas. 

So why do Texan cities have a significantly lower debt burden than Illinois cities? Texas is one of nine U.S. states that doesn’t issue any income tax nor do they issue inheritance tax. This lowers the total debt burden and makes Texas the perfect candidate to have trusts in (since you won’t have to pay taxes on them). However, by biblical standards, having more money makes it more difficult to enter the kingdom of God. So, who knows? Maybe paying those taxes on earth may actually bring you closer to heaven.

If you’d like to check the tax burden in your own city, www.statisnostics.com can help. By entering your address in the search bar, you can find information about your town’s government data, economics, real estate, schools, health, demographics, climate, and public safety.

1. StatisNostics, statisnostics.com/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2024. 

2. Reilly, Peter J. “Pritzker Trust Dodges Illinois State Income Tax.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2 Jan. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2014/01/02/pritzker-trust-dodges-illinois-state-income-tax/?sh=53ab61a4e51a. 

Cover Photo Credit: www.freepik.com