- The Inland Revenue Service has demanded $44 billion from FTX companies
- The tax office lodged the incredible demand at the end of last month
- Only $10 billion has been recovered so far
The Inland Revenue Service (IRS) has filed an astonishing $44 billion tax demand with FTX and its associated companies, some 4.4x the value of the assets the company says it has recovered. Bankruptcy filings from the end of April reveal that the IRS lodged 45 claims against FTX-related companies, while the priority level associated with the filing means that the IRS’s claims could take precedence over other creditors, all but erasing any chance of customers getting their funds back.
FTX Wasn’t Paying its Taxes…Shock
FTX famously had a large number of companies and subsidiaries under its umbrella, and it seems the IRS wants its pound of flesh from each of them. The largest claims are against Alameda Research LLC, one valued at $20.4 billion and the other at $7.9 billion, with the $20.4 billion claim formed of about $20 billion in partnership taxes. The remaining amount of the claim includes millions in withheld income taxes and payroll taxes, which is hardly surprising given the way that FTX was run.
Two claims totaling $9.5 billion have also been levied against Alameda Research Holdings Inc, while West Realm Shires (the legal entity of FTX.US), Ledger Holdings (the parent firm of LedgerX and LedgerPrime), and Blockfolio are also listed as entities that owe money to the IRS.
Bad News for Creditors
If it wasn’t bad enough for creditors that they are going to have to do battle with the tax office over what’s left at FTX, it could get worse; the claims are filed with an ‘Admin Priority classification, which could allow the IRS’ claims to take precedence over the claims of other creditors.
Given that only $10 billion worth of assets has been recovered to date, any faint hopes that FTX users had that they might see some funds back may have just gone up in smoke.
