November 17: Illinois General Assembly veto session begins.
December 1: Second week of the Illinois General Assembly veto session begins.
December 3: I am a panelist on a webcast sponsored by COST (Council on State Taxation) "Report from the Front Lines: Central/Midwest States Chamber Roundtable Discussion on Business Taxes - 2020 Recap & 2021 Predictions."
The General Assembly is adjourned until the fall veto session.
New legislation
No new legislation this week.
Rulemaking
The October 30 edition of the Illinois Register was not published by the time I finished the newsletter last Friday morning.
The October 30 Illinois Register contained one adopted rulemaking by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The October 30 Illinois Register did not contain any proposed rules by the Department of Revenue or any proposed or adopted rules by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The Department of Revenue adopted an amendment to the income tax rules. The Department described the rulemaking as follows:
"This rulemaking implements the new minimum wage credit found in Section 704A(i) of the Illinois Income Tax Act, 35 ILCS 5/704A(i), created by PA 101-1. For reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020, taxpayers may claim a withholding credit based on the increased wages paid to employees, attributable to the new minimum wage which took effect on January 1, 2020. The credit is reduced every year until it expires for reporting periods beginning on January 1, 2028. The rulemaking provides guidance on how the credit shall be calculated and claimed."
The Department of Revenue also published its 2020 third quarter income tax and sales & miscellaneous tax sunshine indices. These indices are listings of private and letter rulings and general information letters issued by the Department of Revenue during the third quarter of 2020. This required publication is a vestige of pre-internet days when it was a bit more difficult for the public to obtain copies of Department letter rulings.
The November 6 edition of the Illinois Register has one adopted rulemaking by the Illinois Department of Revenue. Today's edition of the Illinois Register did not contain any proposed rulemakings by the Illinois Department of Revenue or the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or any adopted rules by the DCEO.
The Department of Revenue adopted rulemaking are new rules for the Department's State Tax Lien Registry program. The rules provide that information in the State Tax Lien Registry is available for purchase by subscription.
Court cases
No new tax-related cases this week.
Tax Tribunal
No new decisions were issued by the Tribunal this week.
One new case may be of interest. Cross Carpet Service, Inc. v. Department of Revenue is a protest of a sales tax audit assessment. The petitioner sells carpet and flooring products and also provides installation services. It appears that a portion of the assessment deals with the extent to which the installation services are subject to the Retailers' Occupation Tax.
In challenging the assessment, the petitioner cites to Section 130.450(b) of the Department's rules, which deals with when installation, alteration and special service charges are not subject to the ROT. However, it is notable that the petitioner did not cite to Section 130.2101 of the Department's rules which deals specifically with sellers of floor coverings and sets forth detailed guidance on when transactions are retail sales, and when transactions are construction contracts.
Publications
The Illinois Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity recently issued a report to the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission. The report outlines the status of current and proposed economic revitalization efforts in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Illinois General Assembly's bi-partisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability issued the Monthly Briefing for the Month Ended: October 2020.
The next meeting of the Tax Institute will be held via webcast on Tuesday December 8 from 10:00 until noon. We will discuss the results of the fall veto session, the impact of the election on Illinois and federal taxes, City of Chicago and Cook County taxes, and discuss the Tax Institute's legislative initiatives for the 2021 spring Illinois
legislative session.
As usual, the meeting will qualify for CLE and CPE.
thoughts on re-introducing these proposals, as well as your suggestions for additional legislative proposals to be considered at our December 8 meeting.
