Why the IRS Has an Interest in the FTX Bankruptcy Case

Deputy Attorney General David Hubbert filed notice for Department of Justice trial attorney Elisabeth Bruce (replacing attorney Warren Benson, who was assigned in December) to appear in the FTX bankruptcy proceedings on Thursday. FTX, founded by ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, filed for bankruptcy on November 11. As for the IRS, Miles Fuller, TaxBit’s director of government solutions, told Decrypt that it seems the agency has more than a passing interest in the case. Normally when debtors file for bankruptcy, those cases get assigned to an insolvency unit within the IRS, he said. Lisa Zarlenga, a tax attorney and partner at Steptoe & Johnson in D.C., said she’s not as optimistic about the IRS making accommodations for FTX victims.