The House and Senate return to Springfield for the spring legislative session on January 4.

New tax-related legislation introduced this week:

HB 4229 - Conroy - Creates the Recovery and Mental Health Tax Credit Act. Provides that the Department of Human Services shall establish and administer a recovery tax credit program to provide tax incentives to qualified employers who employ eligible individuals in recovery from a substance use disorder or mental illness in part-time and full-time positions within Illinois. Creates the Advisory Council on Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder Impacts on Employment Opportunities within Minority Communities. Sets forth the membership of the Council. Provides that the Council shall advise the Department of Human Services regarding employment of persons with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in minority communities. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to make conforming changes.

HB 4234 - Amends the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that, beginning on July 1, 2022, breast pumps, breast pump collection and storage supplies, and breast pump kits are exempt from the taxes imposed under those Acts. Effective immediately.

We will begin the meeting with a national State and Local Tax update from the folks at the Council on State Taxation (COST).

This update will cover select legislation and litigation around the country. Speakers from COST will discuss certain issues with sales, gross receipts, and corporate income taxes.

Speakers: Aziza Farooki, Priya Nair, and Fred Nicely

Aziza Farooki is Director of Policy at the Council On State Taxation (COST) where she coordinates and supports COST’s policy and advocacy efforts at state, local, and federal levels. Prior to joining COST, Aziza served as fiscal manager and program coordinator at the Ohio State University. She received her Master of Public Policy and Management degree from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Priya D. Nair is Staff Attorney for the Council On State Taxation (COST) where she is responsible for identifying, analyzing, communicating, and tracking legislation and regulations of concern to COST members. Prior to joining COST, Priya was a Manager in the National Tax Office-SALT of Grant Thornton LLP in Washington DC, and before that she was a State Tax Law Editor at The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc./ Bloomberg BNA. She earned her Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center and her Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

Fred Nicely is Senior Tax Counsel for the Council On State Taxation (COST) where his role extends to all aspects of the COST mission statement: “to preserve and promote equitable and nondiscriminatory state and local taxation of multijurisdictional business entities.” Before joining COST, Fred served in the Ohio Department of Taxation for four years as Deputy Tax Commissioner over Legal and for the prior seven years as the Department’s Chief Counsel.  Fred’s undergraduate degree in psychology (with a concentration in accounting) is from the Ohio State University. He obtained his MBA and JD from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. 

The November 29 edition of the Illinois Register did not contain any proposed rules or adopted rulemakings by the Illinois Department of Revenue or the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

The December 3 edition of the Illinois Register did not contain any proposed rules or adopted rulemakings by the Illinois Department of Revenue or the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

No new tax-related cases this week.

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

None of the new cases filed since my last newsletter raise unique issues.

The General Assembly's bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) published its annual summary of Major Bills Passed by the 102nd General Assembly. This publication summarizes 193 bills in 13 categories.

COGFA also released it Monthly Briefing for the Month ended: November 2021. Included in this report is a discussion of the impact of increases in the retail price of motor fuel on sales tax collections. Remember, that unlike other states, Illinois imposes its sales tax on the retail selling price of motor fuel. As the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel increase, so does the amount of sales taxes charged and collected on those fuels.

The AICPA published a summary of the Tax Provisions in the Build Back Better Act that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Council on State Taxation (COST) issued a new study entitled A Global Perspective on U.S. State Sales Tax Systems as a Revenue Source: Inefficient, Ineffective, and Obsolete