According to a recent report, the United States Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have filed 45 claims amounting to $44 billion against bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its subsidiaries.
The largest claim, totaling $20.4 billion, is related to unpaid partnership and income taxes assessed against Alameda Research LLC, FTX’s sister company. The IRS has also made claims of $7.9 billion and $7.5 billion against Alameda Research LLC and Alameda Research Holdings, respectively. These claims have been filed under “administrative priority,” giving the IRS precedence over unsecured creditors during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Although Alameda Research was based in Hong Kong, its founders and key personnel are U.S. nationals, making them liable for taxes on their worldwide income under the U.S. taxation-by-citizenship regime. Partnership entities, like Alameda Research, pass taxes through to their partners, who are then taxed at the individual level.
Earlier reports indicated that FTX had recovered $7.3 billion in assets and was considering relaunching the exchange next year. However, with the recent IRS claims, FTX’s liabilities still outweigh its assets by an estimated $8.7 billion.
