Toskr, Inc. pays $1 million to settle decade-long DC sales tax evasion | The Locally Times
A whistleblower complaint led the Office of the Attorney General to recover unpaid taxes from the political texting firm GetThru.
Toskr, Inc., the peer-to-peer text messaging firm operating under the name GetThru, will pay $1 million to the District of Columbia to resolve allegations that the company failed to collect and pay sales taxes for a decade. The settlement, announced by Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb on June 1, 2026, concludes an enforcement action initiated after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit under the District’s False Claims Act. The agreement mandates that the company now collect and pay sales taxes on all data processing services sold to clients within the District. ## Enforcement Under the False Claims Act The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) utilized the District’s False Claims Act to pursue the recovery of these funds. This statute allows the District to hold entities accountable for knowingly concealing or avoiding obligations to pay taxes, with provisions that can result in penalties up to three times the original amount owed. The OAG independently investigated the allegations brought forward by the whistleblower and intervened in the case to secure the $1 million payment. According to the OAG, the investigation covered the period from 2016 through May 2026. During this decade, GetThru provided political campaigns, advocacy groups, and nonprofits with peer-to-peer messaging and calling software. The District maintains that these data processing services are subject to local sales tax, and the company failed to collect or remit these payments on millions of dollars of sales to District-based customers. ## Future Compliance Requirements Under the terms of the settlement agreement submitted to the court, GetThru is now legally required to collect and pay DC sales taxes on all data processing services provided to clients located in the District. This requirement applies to all future transactions, ensuring that the firm operates under the same tax obligations as other businesses selling similar digital services to District residents and organizations. The OAG confirmed that GetThru cooperated with the investigation following the initial whistleblower complaint. While the settlement resolves the current allegations of tax non-compliance, the OAG did not release details regarding the specific internal software or accounting practices that allowed the tax delinquency to persist for ten years. ## Impact on District Revenue The $1 million recovered through this settlement contributes directly to the District’s general fund, which supports essential public services including schools, infrastructure, and public safety. By enforcing tax laws against private vendors, the OAG aims to prevent businesses from gaining an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding firms that include the cost of local sales tax in their service pricing. The records do not specify which specific public programs will receive the recovered $1 million, nor do they clarify if other peer-to-peer texting or data processing vendors are currently under investigation for similar tax compliance issues. The OAG continues to encourage residents to report suspected tax fraud or false claims against the District via its official reporting channels. ## Key Questions **Why did the District sue GetThru?** The Office of the Attorney General alleged that GetThru failed to collect and pay required DC sales taxes on data processing services sold to District clients between 2016 and May 2026. **What does the settlement require the company to do now?** Under the terms of the agreement, GetThru must pay $1 million to the District and is now legally required to collect and pay sales taxes on all data processing services sold to clients in the District moving forward. **How was the tax evasion discovered?** The investigation began after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit under the District’s False Claims Act, which the Office of the Attorney General then independently investigated and joined.