IRS files $44 billion suits against FTX group

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has filed a series of suits against the bankrupt exchange FTX and its subsidiaries, totaling $44 billion.

The insane Alameda Research LLC tax bill circulating is real. The major balances don’t have detail, but in part it appears the IRS went back and reclassified ALL employees from contractors to employees and hit them for unpaid employer-side employment taxes. pic.twitter.com/GuY6czcgMn

— Meat (?,?) (@MeatTC_) May 10, 2023

The largest claims, at $20.4 billion and $7.9 billion, are directed against Alameda Research LLC. The IRS also filed two suits seeking $9.5 billion against Alameda Research Holdings Inc.

The filing states that the IRS seeks roughly $20 billion in partnership taxes. The remainder comprises unpaid personal income withholdings and payroll taxes.

Court filings were made under an ‘administrative-priority’ designation, giving the IRS’s claims priority over other creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Among other entities sued are the West Realm Shires corporate entity, Ledger Holdings, Blockfolio, and others. In total, the regulator filed 45 claims.

In May, FTX lawyers demanded a return of $4 billion from the bankrupt crypto-lending platform Genesis.

In the same month, a court approved a deal between the FTX exchange and its subsidiary, Miami International Holdings, to sell the LedgerX crypto-derivatives platform for $50 million.

Later, the lawyers of founder Sam Bankman-Fried requested the dismissal of most of the charges, aside from the conspiracy to commit securities, commodities, and money-laundering.