Pro-Bitcoin MicroStrategy Founder Michael Saylor Agrees To $40 Million D.C. Income Tax Settlement

2024-06-03 07:04:55

Julia Smith

Last updated:

June 3, 2024 11:04 EDT | 2 min read

Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy Bitcoin, Michael Saylor Income Tax Outspoken Bitcoin investor and MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor will forfeit $40 million in order to settle income tax fraud litigation brought against him by the Washington D.C. Attorney General’s office, the agency announced Monday.

MicroStrategy Founder Settles D.C. Income Tax Fraud Case For $40 Million

In August 2022, then D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced that his office was pursuing legal action against Saylor for claiming he was a resident of “lower tax jurisdictions” despite “living in a luxury penthouse on the Georgetown waterfront” and docking his yachts on the Potomac riverfront starting in 2005.

According to an official complaint, the crypto-friendly billionaire tech utive used company documents to help mask his real residence in order to evade paying his income tax, costing D.C. “tens of millions of dollars.”

NEW: Michael Saylor – billionaire tech utive and investor – will pay $40 million to the District in the largest income tax fraud recovery in DC history.

Saylor not only broke the law, he openly bragged about his tax evasion scheme and encouraged others to follow his example.

— AG Brian Schwalb (@DCAttorneyGen) June 3, 2024

“MicroStrategy knew that Saylor was in fact a District resident, but instead of accurately reporting his address to local and federal tax authorities and correctly withholding District taxes, the company made and used false records and statements that facilitated Defendant Saylor’s tax avoidance scheme,” the complaint reads in part.

In a series of Monday morning X posts, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb claimed Saylor “openly bragged about his tax evasion scheme and encouraged others to follow his example.”

“Tax cheats freeload off the backs of hardworking, law-abiding, taxpaying Washingtonians while depriving the District of critical resources for public services including public safety, infrastructure, and education,” said Schwalb. “No one in the District of Columbia is above the law, no matter how wealthy or powerful they may be.”

Michael Saylor uting MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Efforts, Value Up 5%

Despite being the largest income tax recovery in D.C.’s history, the MicroStrategy founder continues to deny any wrongdoing in the case.

“Florida remains my home today, and I continue to dispute the allegation that I was ever a resident of the District of Columbia,” Saylor told the New York Times. “I have agreed to settle this manner to avoid the continued burdens of litigation on friends, family, and myself.”

Saylor, who is currently worth $4.8 billion, has long been a proponent of digital assets.

In 2020, the former MicroStrategy CEO invested hundreds of millions of company funds into Bitcoin.

By August 2022, he resigned from the position in order to take on the role of utive chairman in order to further focus the software company’s efforts on Bitcoin.

Amid news of Michael Saylor’s income tax settlement with the D.C. attorney general, Microstrategy stock was up by around 5% Monday morning.

BTC-1,12%

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