Key Takeaways
- The lawsuit seeks a total sum of over $100 million in unpaid taxes and penalties.
- The lawsuit alleges that Saylor claimed to live in Virginia and Florida, which had low personal income tax returns, to evade taxes.
- MicroStrategy was named as a defendant in the suit.
MicroStrategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor were sued by the District of Columbia’s attorney-general on Wednesday for allegedly evading over $25 Million in taxes. The lawsuit alleges Saylor failed to pay the income tax he owed to the district starting in 2005.
As per the lawsuit, Saylor allegedly claimed to reside in Virginia/Florida, which have low personal income rates, while living in several different homes around D.C., including a penthouse apartment in the Georgetown neighborhood, and his yacht on the Georgetown waterfront among other places.
The suit, which also names MicroStrategy as a defendant, includes various posts that appear to be from Saylor’s Facebook page dating back several years and describing the view “Georgetown balcony” and discussing his “home” while tagging Washington, D.C.
According to the District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, MicroStrategy had “detailed information confirming that Saylor was, in fact, a D.C. resident, but it chose to withhold that information.”
As per the lawsuit, MicroStrategy was aware that Saylor lived in Washington for more than half the year because it had access to information about his whereabouts and conspired to help him evade taxes.
“The company reported to the Internal Revenue Service on form W-2s for taxable years 2014 through 2021 that Defendant Saylor’s address was that of his house in Florida rather than his true place MicroStrategy of abode,” the lawsuit alleges.
Racine’s office states that it’s looking to recover a total sum of over $100 million in unpaid taxes and penalties. In response to the allegations, MicroStrategy had called the District of Columbia case “a personal tax matter involving Mr. Saylor.”
“The Company was not responsible for his day-to-day affairs and did not oversee his individual tax responsibilities,” MicroStrategy said.
“Nor did the Company conspire with Mr. Saylor in the discharge of his personal tax responsibilities. The District of Columbia’s claims against the Company is false.”
Saylor, the Bitcoin enthusiast, recently came under media limelight when he stepped down as CEO following the firm reporting a second-quarter loss of $1 billion after taking a $917.8 million impairment charge in its BTC holdings. He currently serves as Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy.
