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August 7, 2020
State and Local Tax
This Week
Illinois General Assembly
The General Assembly is adjourned until the fall veto session.
Rulemaking
The August 7 edition of the Illinois Register did not contain any proposed or adopted rulemakings by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Today's Illinois Register contained an emergency rulemaking and a companion proposed permanent rulemaking on the Business Interruption Grant Program administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The Department described the new rules as follows:
"The proposed rules implement the Business Interruption Grant Program authorized by PA 101-636, Article 30 [20 ILCS 605/605-1050]. The proposed rules provide the administrative framework required for the Department to administer this program, which provides financial support to businesses that have incurred expenditures or suffered losses because of the COVID19 public health emergency. Also provides for technical assistance grants to help businesses in underserved areas to apply for financial assistance. "
The Illinois Department of Revenue filed its second notice with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for its rulemaking amending the Retailers' Occupation Tax rules implementing the $10,000 trade in cap on automobiles. Here is the link to the second notice filing for the Use Tax rules amendments.
Court cases
No tax related cases this week.
The following case could have significant implications for the state's ability to issue general obligation bonds and the state budget if the plaintiff is successful.
Tillman v. Pritzker is an appeal from the circuit court of Sangamon County to the appellate court. A bit over a year ago, John Tillman filed a petition for leave to file a taxpayers' suit against the state as authorized by Section 11-301 of the Code of Civil Procedure. (You may recognize the name - John Tillman is the head of the Illinois Policy Institute. The case was filed in his personal capacity, not on behalf of the IPI.)
Section 11-301 of the Code of Civil Procedure allows "any citizen and taxpayer" to maintain an "action to restrain and enjoin the disbursement of public funds by any officer or officers of State government."
Section 11-303 provides that such an action is commenced by filing a petition for permission to file an action to restrain and enjoin the defendants from disbursing public funds. The petition has attached to it the complaint which the plaintiff seeks to be filed.
Section 11-303 provides that if the court determines that there is a reasonable ground for the filing of the action, the court can grant the petition and allow the case to proceed.
About a year ago, Tillman filed his petition and complaint. In his complaint he asserted that the State of Illinois issued certain bonds in 2003 and 2017 that are unconstitutional because the authorizing statutes did not provide a specific purpose as required by Article IX, Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution. The complaint requested that the trial court find the 2003 and 2017 bond statutes unconstitutional and enjoin the state from making further payments on the bonds.
The circuit court held a hearing on the petition and denied Tillman's petition to file the complaint. Tillman appealed.
Yesterday, the appellate court ruled that Tillman's complaint was not frivolous or malicious and the trial court erred by denying his petition for leave to file the complaint. The case was remanded back to the circuit court.
The appellate court made clear that it expressed no opinion on the merits of the case. It only ruled that Tillman's petition to file his complaint should not have been denied. The case will now go back to the circuit court for proceedings on the merits of the case.
I will continue to watch this case.
Tax Tribunal
No new decisions were issued by the Tribunal this week.
None of the new cases raise unique issues. The new cases consist of protests of personal responsibility penalties imposes against persons involved with failed businesses. The Department persists in its usual practice of asserting personal responsibility penalties against anyone and everyone whose name appears on business registration materials filed with the Department, apparently without any investigation.
Publications
The Illinois General Assembly's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability ("COGFA") has issued its Monthly Briefing for the Month Ended: July 2020.
Proponents of a graduated income tax in Colorado have ended their efforts to attempt put Initiative 271 on the ballot in the November election. | 
