Recently, Karl Racine has made headlines for a certain reason. For those who do not know, Racine is the Attorney General for the District of Columbia in the US. In fact, he is the first Attorney General of the District of Columbia, to be independently elected. He has been in that position since 2015. In fact, his work on antitrust matters has received national attention.
Therefore, it is quite apparent that Karl Racine is not the kind of person to mess with. Recently, he took to Twitter to announce that MicroStrategy and its co-founder Michael Saylor have been sued by his office. There are charges of tax evasion against the company and its CEO. If you wish to learn more about this issue, then this article is the perfect stop for you. Keep reading the article to know more about the issue.
The Real Matter
On the 31st of August, Karl Racine took to Twitter to announce that they are suing Michael Saylor. He further clarified that Saylor has lived in DC for more than a year, without paying any income tax. Therefore, they have brought charges of tax fraud against him. After that, in the reply section, he added that they are also suing MicroStrategy. According to Racine, the company assisted Saylor, in evading tax payments.
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
The office of Karl Racine claimed that Saylor has evaded an income tax worth more than $25 million. However, adding the penalties of both the company and the CEO can see a total of more than $100 million. Racine also issued a warning to all the residents of DC. He stated that he and his office will get hold of anyone, trying to evade taxes.
The Council of the District of Columbia amended the district’s False Claims Act. This in turn encouraged the whistleblowers to report against any resident, who is evading taxes. According to Racine, the charges stem from this very fact. A whistleblower, in fact, filed the case against Saylor, back in 2021.
There are strict laws in DC about tax payments. As per the law, if anyone resides in DC for more than 183 days, then he/she must pay local taxes. According to the authorities, Saylor had been living in DC, in a 7,000-square-foot penthouse in Georgetown, since 2005. But he evaded taxes by claiming that he is a resident of Florida or Virginia.
The office of Karl Racine also states that MicroStrategy conspired with him, to help him evade taxes. The company, in fact, filed W-2s with the address of his property in Florida. Therefore, the company has been equally involved in the offence.
Concluding Lines
In the US many high-wage earners take the help of legal experts to reduce or evade taxes. In the case of Saylor, this might have been the case. However, Karl Racine and his office have sued both him and his company. Now let us wait and see, where this legal matter ends.
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