Trump Could Owe $100M In Taxes From IRS Fight Over Chicago Tower: Report

CHICAGO — Former president Donald Trump could end up owing over $100 million in taxes in connection with his Chicago tower depending on the outcome of a yearslong audit fight over whether he claimed improper breaks, according to a joint report published in recent days by The New York Times and ProPublica.

Trump wrote off the same losses twice, the Internal Revenue Service has argued, according to the report. The first time, he claimed his investment in the project qualified as worthless under tax code and reported losses of up to $651 million for 2008, according to the outlets.

Then, in 2010, he moved the company that owned the tower into a partnership he also controlled to justify the declaration of $168 million in losses over the following decade, the report said.

An IRS spokesman told the outlets the agency was prohibited from discussing private taxpayer information, but University of Baltimore law professor Walter Schwidetzky said in the report that Trump “ripped off the tax system.”

Trump’s son, Trump Organization Executive Vice President Eric Trump, had a different perspective, according to the report.

“This matter was settled years ago, only to be brought back to life once my father ran for office,” Eric Trump told the outlets. “We are confident in our position, which is supported by opinion letters from various tax experts, including the former general counsel of the I.R.S.”

Read more from The New York Times and ProPublica.