MicroStrategy And Its Executive Chairman Michael Saylor Are Being Sued For Tax Fraud

• Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy are being sued by D.C.
• The complaint alleges the former CEO conspired with the company to commit tax evasion.
• The lawsuit calls for more than $25 million in back-taxes and penalties.

The largest corporate holder of bitcoin, MicroStrategy, and its Executive Chairman Michael Saylor are being sued by the District of Columbia (D.C.) for alleged tax fraud, per an announcement from the D.C. Attorney General.

The complaint alleges that Saylor knowingly avoided income taxes to D.C. while fraudulently claiming to be a resident of a lower tax jurisdiction while maintaining his residence in D.C. Additionally, the complaint alleges that MicroStrategy conspired with Saylor by intentionally obfuscating his real address to local and federal tax authorities.

“On information and belief, from 2005 to the present, Saylor has avoided more than $25 million in District taxes owed,” reads the complaint.

Moreover, the complaint recalls events back to 1980’s when Saylor originally founded the company, to the relocation of the company’s headquarters to avoid tax burdens in the 90’s, to his supposed routine use of yachts anchored in the Potomac River over many years.

“Defendant Saylor has been domiciled in the District, or a statutory resident of the District, or both, in each taxable year from 2005 through the present,” the lawsuit continues.

The complaint claims that Saylor also made multiple “contemptuous” social media posts on Facebook, supporting the claim that he has lived in the area from 2005 to present.

More recently, it was announced that Saylor would be stepping down from the aforementioned role of CEO to take on the position of Executive Chairman. The move was meant to enable Saylor to focus on bitcoin initiatives in the ecosystem as well as continuing to drive MicroStrategy’s bitcoin acquisition strategy.