MicroStrategy May Face Federal Tax Obligations on Its $19.3B Unrealized Bitcoin Gains Under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

MicroStrategy, led by Michael Saylor, may face federal tax obligations on its $19.3 billion unrealized Bitcoin gains. Despite not selling its Bitcoin

MicroStrategy might be obligated to pay federal taxes on its unrealized Bitcoin gains of $19.3 billion, even though the company has not yet sold its Bitcoin holdings. This is due to a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that could subject MicroStrategy to a corporate alternative minimum tax (CAMT) of 15% on its adjusted corporate earnings.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on January 24, companies that have an average adjusted financial statement income (AFSI) of over $1 billion for three years are subject to CAMT. MicroStrategy’s large Bitcoin holdings put it well above this threshold, potentially making it liable for additional taxes.

As of January 13, MicroStrategy owns over 450,000 BTC, which is currently valued at more than $48 billion. The company’s Bitcoin portfolio tracker shows unrealized gains of over $19.3 billion.

In June 2024, MicroStrategy agreed to pay $40 million to settle a tax fraud lawsuit. The lawsuit, which was filed by the District of Columbia’s attorney general in August 2022, alleged that Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, had not paid income taxes in the district for over a decade despite living there.

The lawsuit had both Saylor and MicroStrategy as defendants and accused them of tax evasion. This settlement came at a time when regulatory scrutiny of corporate cryptocurrency holdings was increasing due to CAMT.

Both MicroStrategy and the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase have challenged the application of CAMT to unrealized cryptocurrency gains. In a joint letter dated January 3, the companies asked the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to change the rules to exclude unrealized crypto gains from AFSI calculations.

The letter explained how CAMT, together with new accounting standards, is making companies pay taxes on assets that have not been sold.

“The unforeseen combination of CAMT and a newly promulgated accounting standard are creating unjust and unintended tax consequences,” the companies wrote.

The companies went on to say that they are worried about how taxing unrealized gains will hurt corporations that own a lot of cryptocurrency.

In June 2024, the IRS released new cryptocurrency tax rules that will require centralized exchanges to start reporting cryptocurrency sales and trades in 2025. The goal of these rules is to improve compliance by making sure that cryptocurrency transactions are taxed correctly.

To help taxpayers file accurate returns, centralized exchanges and brokers will need to give them transaction data. However, blockchain specialist Anndy Lian said that these rules could lead investors to decentralized platforms, which might make it harder to collect taxes.

In December 2024, the Blockchain Association filed a lawsuit against the IRS’s use of the term “broker” to include decentralized platforms. The lawsuit said that these requirements, especially in the context of decentralized exchanges, were against the constitution.