The House and Senate are not scheduled to return to Springfield until the fall veto session. The House and Senate have not posted the fall veto session dates. My understanding is that it will be after the November elections.

The May 27 edition of the Illinois Register did not contain any proposed or adopted rulemakings by the Department of Revenue or proposed rulemaking by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Today's Illinois Register contains one adopted rulemaking by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. DCEO adopted rule implementing the Apprenticeship Education Expense Credit Program. The rules implement the apprenticeship credit from the Illinois Income Tax Act added by P.A. 101-0207 as Section 229 of the Illinois Income Tax Act.

DCEO describes the rules as follows: "Provides rules for employers seeking to participate in the apprenticeship education expense credit program, including definitions, eligibility criteria, and application process and procedure. The rules also provide details regarding the issuance of the certificate to the applicant business. Finally, these rules detail the process and procedure applicable to noncompliant participants."

The Illinois Appellate Court for the Fifth District issued a decision in Shawnee Community Unit School District No. 84 v. Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. The court held that the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err as a matter of law when it declined to dismiss the appeals based on taxpayer’s failure to pay outstanding taxes. The PTAB’s decision to reduce the tax assessments of a power generation facility was not against the manifest weight of the evidence where the testimony and report of a licensed appraiser supported a determination that the facility was overvalued. 

The case is a Supreme Court Rule 23 case and per that rule is not precedential.

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

Only one new case was filed since last week and it does not raise any unique issues.

The Department posts redacted copies of General Information Letters ("GILs") and Private Letter rulings ("PLRs") on its website.

You will recall that 2 Ill. Adm. Code Part 1200 of the Department's rules describes the nature of GILs and PLRs. Section 1200.120(b) explains that "General Information Letters contain general discussions of tax principles or applications. General Information letters re designed to provide general background information on topics of interest to taxpayers." Note that GILs are not binding on the Department and do not create any rights for taxpayers under the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act

Private Letter rulings are issued by the Department "in response to specific taxpayer inquiries concerning the application of a tax statute or rule to a particular fact situation. Private letter rulings are binding on the Department only as to the taxpayer who is the subject of the request for ruling. Prior rulings are considered in responding to future inquiries with similar fact situations." Section 1200.110 of the Department's rules sets forth the requirements for requesting and issuance of private letter rulings.

Private letter rulings are binding on the Department only as to the taxpayer who is the subject of the request for ruling. (Section 1200.110(a)). Private letter rulings are revoked automatically after 10 years. (Section 1200.110(e)) Private letter rulings also cease to bind the Department if there is a pertinent change in statutory law, case law, rules or material facts. (Section 1200.110(d)).

The Department doesn't issue very many general information letters and private letter rulings these days. Here is a link to the income tax and sales tax letter rulings issued and published during 2022. Even though general information letters are not binding and private letter rulings are binding only with respect to the taxpayer who requested the ruling, review of ruling letters can be helpful in getting a sense of the Department's position on particular issues, especially on issues in which the Department hasn't done rulemaking.