After weeks of negotiations, the Illinois Chamber, TFI and the Department of Revenue reached agreement this week on proposed legislative language to implement an Independent Illinois Tax Tribunal effective July 1, 2013. An amendment to HB 5219 sponsored by Rep. Mike Zalewski will be filed this coming Tuesday. Illinois taxpayers will now be able to seek independent administrative review of a Department of R ...

 Senate Committee Action  As previously reported last week, Amendment #1 to SB 282 was heard and passed out of Senate Executive Committee this Wednesday on a partisan vote. As amended, SB 282 would require publicly-traded companies to make confidential tax return information available to the public. The Chamber staff testified in Committee against the bill. Thursday, Chamber representatives met with House D ...

Friday was the scheduled deadline for both the House and Senate to move all bills out of substantive committees.  Tax bills passing out of Senate Revenue Committee earlier this week include:   SB 3723 which creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who purchase green energy, renewable energy credits, or carbon offsets. The credit is equal to 5% of the amount expended for in-state purchases, and reduced to ...

HB 5288, an initiative of the Illinois Attorney General's Office, which creates a new "sales tax evasion" penalty, has passed the House and this week moved out of Senate Criminal Law Committee. The bill creates a new penalty called "sales tax evasion" as well as increasing the existing criminal penalties for filing a fraudulent return.   Senate Amendment #1, adopted this week in Criminal Law Committee, prov ...

A 2011 law designed to force certain out-of-state internet retailers to collect Illinois sales tax was declare unconstitutional on Wednesday by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Robert Lopez Cepero. Public Act 96-1544, effective July 1, 2011, requires out-of-state internet retailers such as Amazon.com to collect Illinois sales tax if they have a commission contract with an in-state business that refers custom ...

Bills passing Senate Revenue Committee this week include: SJR 65. The Senate joint resolution provides that the State of Illinois shall remain a competitive workforce and an ideal State to bring new industry and new jobs by creating incentive programs that attract growth industries and smart jobs with a goal that incentive programs generate $2 of investment to Illinois for every dollar of incentive provided ...

The Senate's Special Committee on Enterprise Zone Extensions passed SB 3688 last week. SB 3688 is sponsored by Sen. Michael Frerichs (D-Gifford) and Sen. Pam Althoff (R-Crystal Lake) and would extend the life of existing zones from 30 years to 55 years, is also provides that an area is qualified to become an enterprise zone if it comprises not more than 18 square miles (now, 12 square miles). DCEO is author ...

 Senate Revenue Committee passed several bills affecting DCEO-administered economic development agreements: HB 3934 sponsored by Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) will require the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to post on its website the terms of all future EDGE agreements, and HB 5342 sponsored by Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) requires DCEO to post the names of businesses that h ...