The Tribune Company faces a potential tax bill of more than $500 million over the sales of the Chicago Cubs and Newsday despite efforts to minimize the tax consequences of both deals, the New York Times DealBook reported yesterday. In the footnotes of its financial report for last year, Tribune said the Internal Revenue Service was seeking $190 million in taxes from the 2008 sale of Newsday to Cablevision as well as a $38 million “accuracy-related penalty” and $17 million in after-tax interest. Tribune also disclosed that the IRS might seek $225 million and unspecified penalties and interest for the company’s 2009 fiscal year, when it sold the Cubs to the Ricketts family for $845 million.
