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NY strips Donald Trump of homeowner tax break at his request

New York City decided over the weekend to remove a tax break Donald Trump had been receiving for homeowners with incomes under $500,000 after the presumptive GOP nominee requested the change.

The break added $1,046.41 onto Trump's tax bill, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, and a spokeswoman for the city's finance department couldn't tell the WSJ whether Trump qualified for the break.

"We can't discuss whether or not he's eligible or ineligible," she told the paper.

The perk came from the New York State School Tax Relief Program (STAR), and took only $302 off his $175,000 tax bill for his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower, according to the Associated Press.

The WSJ's report said the removed tax breaks cover three years and include some interest charges. Hope Hicks told the newspaper that the break was "given in error and thus corrected."

Trump has come under fire for refusing to release his tax returns because he claims that he's under audit by the IRS and therefore cannot make them public.

Last month, a report from the New Jersey Division of Gambling Enforcement revealed that he paid no federal income taxes for at least two years in the 1970s.

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