BREAKING: Michael Saylor Sued For Tax Fraud!
• September 5, 2022 10:39 pm • CommentsBitcoin supporter Michael Saylor is now being sued by the District of Columbia for allegedly committing tax fraud which has stirred some controversy within the crypto community.
Whether or not the claim is true is yet to be proven, but it seems that the attorney general’s office is making bold claims such as accusing Saylor for failing to pay more than $25 million in taxes.
As a result, the district is supposedly trying to reclaim this amount again with additional expenses and fees.
In addition to this, it seems that the focus of the district is not only on Saylor himself, but the office is also claiming that MicroStrategy helped Saylor evade taxes as well.
BREAKING: Washington, DC is suing @MicroStrategy
founder and CEO Michael @Saylor for allegedly not paying income taxes in the district in the more than 10 years he has lived there.We will reserve judgment.
Hard to side with anything govt related at the moment. Stay 🦾 Mike!
— ProCoinNews (@ProCoinNews) August 31, 2022
CoinDesk shares the details:
The District of Columbia is suing MicroStrategy (MSTR) founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor for allegedly never paying any income taxes in the district in the more than 10 years he has lived there, Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced in a tweet on Wednesday.
In addition, Racine tweeted that his office is suing MicroStrategy “for conspiring to help him evade taxes he legally owes on hundreds of millions of dollars he’s earned while living” in Washington.
The attorney general’s office alleged Saylor avoided paying more than $25 million in taxes to the district and is seeking back taxes, treble damages, civil penalties, expenses and fees.
Saylor is a bitcoin (BTC) maximalist who has bet the business software company’s future on the cryptocurrency, amassing billions of dollars of worth it over the past few years. He recently stepped down as CEO to focus on MicroStrategy’s bitcoin strategy.
Although nothing is proven yet and there has not been any evidence of tax fraud, it seems that the accusation has already caused the market to react.
So far, MicroStrategy’s stock price dropped by around 4% the day that the news was announced as unexpected regulation from the government is never a good thing.
Saylor has commented on the incident and has stated that Florida is the state that he resides in and he therefore disagrees with the District of Columbia’s position.
He stated that he looks forward to resolving this in court to settle the debate on where he truly resides and what tax rules should apply to him.
NEW: Today, we’re suing Michael Saylor – a billionaire tech executive who has lived in the District for more than a decade but has never paid any DC income taxes – for tax fraud.
— AG Karl A. Racine (@AGKarlRacine) August 31, 2022
CoinDesk concludes:
“Florida is where I live, vote, and have reported for jury duty, and it is at the center of my personal and family life,” he said. “I respectfully disagree with the position of the District of Columbia, and look forward to a fair resolution in the courts.”
According to a copy of the complaint shared with CoinDesk, Saylor lived in a penthouse in Washington while “masquerading” as a resident of Florida or Virginia, by purchasing property and registering to vote in these states.
The district attorney general’s office also alleged that Saylor had MicroStrategy report his residency as being in Florida in forms filed with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
“Concerned about MicroStrategy’s involvement in Defendant Saylor’s fraudulent scheme to avoid District taxes, in or about 2014, MicroStrategy’s then-Chief Financial Officer undertook a count of the number of days that Defendant Saylor spent in Florida as compared to the District and found that because Saylor spent the majority of each year in the District, MicroStrategy could not justify misreporting Saylor’s residency to federal tax official,” the complaint said.
Now we know why @saylor was always out of breath in his interviews.
He was trying to out run the tax man. 😂@ProCoinNews
— ETHGATEMERGEGUY (@xrpmemeguy) August 31, 2022
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