The House and Senate return to Springfield for the spring legislative session on January 4. The House and Senate both announced that they plan to finish the spring legislative session by April 8, 2022.

No new legislation was introduced this week.

The Department held their annual tax practitioner meeting on Tuesday. I have copies of the meeting materials. The Department emailed the materials to me in a pdf file that is too big for me to upload and attach to this email platform. However, if you are interested in the meeting materials send me an email and I will forward them to you.

The November 5 edition of the Illinois Register did not contain any proposed or adopted rules by the Illinois Department of Revenue.

The November 5 Illinois Register contained a statement of recommendation directed to the Illinois Department of Revenue by the Illinois General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. The committee issued the following recommendation:

"At its meeting on October 19, 2021, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules considered the above-cited emergency rule and recommended that Department of Revenue take into consideration the impact on businesses when changing policy in the middle of a taxing year. JCAR further recommends that Department of Revenue utilize more direct communications on effected entities whenever policy changes occur.

The agency should respond to this Recommendation in writing within 90 days after receipt of this Statement. Failure to respond will constitute refusal to accede to the Committee's Recommendation. The agency's response will be placed on the JCAR agenda for further consideration."

In the November 5 Illinois Register, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity published emergency amendments to its emergency rules for the Back to Business Grant Program.

DCEO also published emergency rules and a companion permanent rulemaking for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program. 

The October 29 edition of the Illinois Register contained 5 new rulemakings by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The October 29 Illinois Register did not contain any proposed rulemakings by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or adopted rulemakings by DCEO or the Department of Revenue.

The Department of Revenue amended the Leveling the Playing Fieldl rules. The Department described the rulemaking as follows:

"These rules are being amended in Section 131.107 to clarify the different types of retailers subject to the provisions of the Leveling the Playing Field for IL Retail Act ("Act"). They specifically amend the current regulations to provide that the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority Retailers' Occupation Tax ("MPEA") and the Chicago Home Rule Municipal Soft Drink Tax ("Soft Drink Tax") are required to be collected and remitted by food delivery services that are considered marketplace facilitators meeting a tax remittance threshold. The rules further provide information regarding the manner in which these taxes are imposed under these circumstances. This amendment reverses provisions of Compliance Alert 2021-01 issued by the Department with regard to collection of these taxes. In connection with this change, provisions are added to emphasize, as required elsewhere in the regulations, that food delivery services that are considered marketplace facilitators under the Act must provide food service establishments with a certification that the food delivery service assumes the rights and duties of a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and all applicable local taxes administered by the Department for sales made by the food service establishment on the marketplace, and that it will remit all such taxes for such sales. The rules specify additional requirements for this certification, and clarify that food service establishments that have received this certification are generally relieved of liability for tax on such sales (except as provided in Section 2 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and Section 131.150 (b)-(c) of the rules, or as provided in Section 131.135 (f) of the rules). This section further clarifies those taxes which may be incurred by remote retailers, marketplace sellers and marketplace facilitators that are not subject to the Act, which include both taxes that are and are not administered by the Department. Section 131.110 is being amended to provide that remote retailers exclusively making tax exempt sales (i.e., 100% of their sales are nontaxable) are not subject to the provisions of the Act. In addition, Section 131.120 is being amended to specify that, for remote retailers, occasional sales are excluded from consideration when calculating tax remittance thresholds. However, Section 131.140, governing marketplace facilitators, is amended to provide that occasional sales must be included when calculating tax remittance thresholds. Throughout the regulations, provisions are being amended to specify that retailers incurring Retailers' Occupation Tax based on origin sourcing must consult the provisions of 86 Ill. Adm. Code 270.115 (c) and (d) to determine the location at which selling activities occur, and therefore, which local taxes will be incurred. Section 131.145 is being amended to clarify books and records requirements for marketplace facilitators, including the manner in which sales made by marketplace sellers that possess active exemption identification numbers ("E" numbers) must be documented. Numerous examples related to auctioneers are being removed, due to Public Act 102-0634 changing the applicability of the Act to these types of retailers. Illustration A is being amended to provide additional clarity."

The Department also amended the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, nd had a similar amendment to the Liquor Tax rules, the Cigarette Tax Act and Cigarette Use Tax Act rules. The Department gave the following description of the Retailers'' Occupation Tax Act rulemaking:

"Section 11 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act provides that “[a]ll information received by the Department from returns filed under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under this Act, shall be confidential, except for official purposes….” The current rule provides that when the Department is engaged in a joint investigation with a law enforcement authority to enforce the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act or another tax Act administered by the Department, it is an official purpose within the meaning of Section 11 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (35 ILCS 120/11) for the Department to furnish information it receives in administering the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act with the law enforcement authority. This section is being amended to repeal the requirement for a written agreement between the Department and the law enforcement authority. Such an agreement is not required by the statute and the purpose of this rule is not to impose additional restrictions beyond the statute, but rather to make clear that sharing with law enforcement is an “official purpose” under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act."

No new tax-related cases this week.

No new decisions have been posted by the Tribunal this week.

No new cases were filed with the Tribunal this week.

The Illinois General Assembly's bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability issued its Monthly Briefing for the Month Ended: October 2021.

The Tax Foundation issued an analysis of the tax provisions contained in the federal budget reconciliation bill that is pending in the House. However, please note that it appears that the bill has not been finalized and the tax provisions, including the proposed modifications to the federal "SALT cap" may have been modified since the Tax Foundation published its analysis yesterday afternoon.

Here is some nonsense, in my opinion, about the supposed evils of corporate stock buy backs from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ("ITEP").