CHICAGO (AP) — A transportation agency has filed a lawsuit alleging that United Airlines is falsely claiming to buy jet fuel out of an office in rural Illinois to avoid paying tens of millions of taxes in Chicago, where it says the purchases are actually being made.
The Regional Transportation Authority confirmed it filed the lawsuit Monday, as expected.
In its lawsuit, the RTA alleges that United Aviation Fuels Corp., a subsidy of United Airlines, has operated what it calls a "sham" office in the DeKalb County community of Sycamore since 2001. It says the company agreed to pay the town more than $300,000 a year — a fraction of what it would have owed in sales taxes in Chicago and Cook County.
The airlines says what it is doing is perfectly legal.
