Suit: Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy Owe $100M+ of Damages From Back DC Taxes
- The District’s attorney general is trying to recover taxes on what the offices alleges could amount to more than $100 million of income from Saylor
- Saylor stepped down as CEO of MicroStrategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin, to become its executive chairman earlier this month
Just weeks after stepping down as MicroStrategy’s long-time chief executive, noted Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor — and his company, the largest publicly traded bitcoin holder — is facing legal accusations that allege systemic tax fraud with penalties that could amount to more than $100 million.
The attorney general for Washington, DC, said in a statement that Saylor has made his primary tax-paying residence the District for more than a decade, but has never paid local income taxes — despite earning hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and MicroStrategy equity options over that period.
Attorney General Karl Racine alleged Saylor personally illegally avoided more than $25 million of DC taxes by pretending to be a resident of other jurisdictions with significantly lower personal income taxes.
Filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia’s civil division, the complaint also names MicroStrategy, the Virginia-based business intelligence Saylor founded in 1989, as a defendant, alleging that it conspired to help him evade taxes he legally owes.
“DC residents and their employers are now on notice that attempts to evade the District’s income tax laws by falsely claiming that they reside in another jurisdiction will be investigated and, if substantiated, held accountable,” Racine said.
This lawsuit is the first such litigation brought under the authority of the District’s recently passed False Claims Act, Racine tweeted. The office is looking to recover what could amount to more than $100 million in unpaid income taxes and penalties from Saylor and MicroStrategy.
MicroStrategy has the largest bitcoin (BTC) stash of any public company. It held 129,699 BTC — currently worth about $2.6 billion — as of June 30.
A spokesperson for MicroStrategy did not immediately return a request for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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