Earlier this month, John McAfee indicated online that he had not filed taxes for eight years and all but dared the IRS to come after him. Now, he says that he is on the run. He claims to be working and living on his yacht because the IRS is after him for his use of Cryptocurrencies.
The McAfee 2020 Campaign is, as of this day, in exile. I am being charged with using Crypto Cuttencies in criminal acts against the U. S. Government. More videos coming shortly. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/C75zcbnKTD
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) January 22, 2019
John McAfee is a divisive figure, even in the cryptocurrency community where he enjoys more support than elsewhere. He first made his name by developing anti-virus software in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McAfee sold his stake in 1991, disappeared from public view for a while and then reemerged after becoming a person of interest in a murder in Belize.
He was eventually arrested in Guatemala and sent back to the United States and that is when the crazy started to happen.
John McAfee called taxes illegal, posted pictures of himself with automatic weapons and scantily clad women and posted often about using drugs. That’s pretty weird for a millionaire, but not out of realm of stuff you’d expect to see on social media.
But he also ran an insurgent campaign for President and created his own political party. He has, at times, advocated for consensual sex with whales. A Showtime documentary accused him of rape, murder and some more disgusting things. Oh, and he started his own privacy-focused cryptocurrency called Apollo. (Though he also claimed that he never transacted in any privacy coins.)
In general, he just says crazy shit. And he does crazy shit. And so it should be no surprise that some people love him for that, and others hate him.
But today, he says he is running his 2020 campaign “in exile” because the IRS is coming after him for using cryptocurrencies. How much this has to do with his claim of not filing taxes for eight years, is unclear. He did indicate the reason he didn’t pay taxes, other than them being illegal in his mind, is that he hasn’t made any money.
Rather, he insists that he is living off of the money he made when he sold his stake in the McAfee software company. However, he has alluded to new business ventures. Presumably, those lost money if, as McAfee claims, he hasn’t brought in any money during those eight years.
Ultimately, anyone bringing in any kind of income (not profit) is required to file taxes, even if they aren’t going to have to pay taxes because they didn’t net a profit.
McAfee seems to be in the middle of a strange saga that is only going to get stranger.
We have reached out to the McAfee team for comment but have not heard back at press time.