From Crain’s Chicago Business | Sales tax receipts throughout the metropolitan area increased in 2010, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue, signaling the first rise in retail spending since 2008. Overall, sales tax revenue in the six-county area advanced 3.4 percent to $7.46 billion last year. Get the full story>>
Inside these posts: Sales tax
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Ill. to connect online retailers with new partners
Amazon dropped its Illinois business affiliates last week. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
The Illinois commerce department will try to find new partners for businesses that previously sold products through Internet retailers like Amazon.com and Overstock.com. Amazon and Overstock plan to drop Illinois-based affiliates this spring to allow them to avoid collecting sales taxes under a new law that applies to Internet businesses that team up with Illinois partners. Get the full story »
Amazon drops Illinois affiliates in fight with states
Amazon.com took action in Illinois, as it had threatened to do, to counter a new law aimed at forcing online retailers to collect sales taxes in the state. Hawaii, North Carolina and Rhode Island have enacted similar laws, and California is weighing action. Amazon is also in a court battle with New York over such legislation.
The Illinois law, signed by Gov. Pat Quinn Thursday, requires online retailers that work with affiliates in the state to collect sales taxes on purchases made by Illinois residents and businesses. Amazon responded to the measure by cutting ties to its Illinois-based affiliates, which are blogs and other Web sites that refer traffic to Amazon and get paid commissions if customers make purchases there. Get the full story »
Illinois to offer amnesty on online shopping taxes
Illinoisans can often dodge sales taxes by shopping online, but the state of Illinois is hoping to collect on those taxes next year by offering a sales tax amnesty.
A new law allows people who didn’t pay sales tax on items bought online, through the mail or over the phone between June 20, 2004, and the end of 2010 to pay what they owe without penalty. The tax amnesty runs from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15. Get the full story »
6 gas station owners charged in sales-tax crackdown
Six Illinois gas station owners have been indicted on charges of pocketing sales taxes customers paid when they fueled up.
The fraud investigation has recovered nearly $13 million in unpaid sales taxes, according to the Illinois attorney general’s office and state department of revenue. The indictments were the first in an ongoing probe of businesses that fail to pay taxes, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan said Thursday. More charges against other tax frauds are expected in coming months, she said. Get the full story »
Chicago leads largest cities in sales tax
It’s another dubious honor for Chicago.
Just as Illinois touts its first sales-tax holiday, a new report highlights Chicago as having among the highest retail sales tax rates of the nation’s largest cities. At 9.75 percent once county, mass transit and city taxes are added to the statewide 6.25 percent sales tax, Chicago’s tax rate is equal to that of Los Angeles. Get the full story »
