Roger Ver Pays $49.9 Million Over Bitcoin (BTC) Expatriation Tax Filing

Roger Ver paid about $49.9 million in taxes, penalties and interest after admitting he deliberately omitted Bitcoin (BTC) from a 2016 U.S. expatriation tax filing, which he acknowledged caused a $16,864,105 tax loss.

Ver admitted that his May 2016 filing left out Bitcoin and that the omission was deliberate. Prosecutors sought dismissal of the case after he paid.

An April 2024 indictment alleged that Ver and companies he controlled held about 131,000 Bitcoin in February 2014, when each coin was worth about $871. Prosecutors alleged that Ver gave a law firm and a valuation firm false information that led to an undervaluation of Bitcoin held by two U.S. companies he controlled. The indictment said those companies held about 73,000 of the total. Prosecutors also alleged that Ver told the firms he did not personally own Bitcoin.

U.S. expatriation tax rules can treat certain people who give up citizenship as if they sold their worldwide assets the day before doing so. A net worth above $2 million is one threshold that can trigger the rules. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats digital assets as property, so Bitcoin is included when those assets are assessed for tax purposes.

The IRS generally has three years to assess additional tax, or six years when omitted income exceeds 25% of gross income. There is no time limit for assessing tax on a false or fraudulent return filed with intent to evade tax.

The IRS also plans to revise its voluntary disclosure program before December, with a goal of resolving cases within 120 days after taxpayers complete the required submissions. The revision is expected to lower penalties, but no rates or eligibility terms have been announced. TokenPost previously covered the planned changes to the IRS program.

The IRS requires digital asset sales, exchanges and payments to be reported on Form 8949 and Schedule D. Staking, mining and airdrop income is reported at fair market value when received.