IRS Demands $26 Million From Papa Bear’s Estate

The Internal Revenue Service claims that the estate of the late George S. Halas, founder of the Chicago Bears, owes the government more than $26 million in back taxes and penalties, it was revealed in a court hearing.

The 10-month-old IRS claim was disclosed Tuesday in a hearing before Cook County Circuit Judge Henry Budzinski about a 1981 corporate reorganization of the National Football League team.

The disclosure in court was made by Marshall Eisenberg, a Chicago lawyer who represents A. Gerson Miller, executor of the estate of Halas’ son, the late George Halas Jr., known as Mugs.

Joseph Lundy, attorney for Virginia McCaskey, the elder Halas’ daughter and a co-executor of his estate, said in court that the estate is vigorously contesting the Feb. 1 IRS notice alleging a tax deficiency of $20.7 million and a penalty of $5.6 million. The dispute is proceeding in federal Tax Court in Washington.

McCaskey is the mother of Bears chairman Michael McCaskey.

The IRS contends that the 1981 reorganization placed an artificially low value on the 49.35% of the team’s stock then held in the name of the senior Halas, who died Oct. 31, 1983.