Section 680.101  Nature of the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety

 

a)         Authority to Impose Tax

            The County Board of any county with a population in excess of 180,000 inhabitants, as determined by the most recent decennial census, is authorized by Section 5-1006.5 of the Counties Code [55 ILCS 5/5-1006.5] (the Code) to impose a tax on all persons engaged in the business of making sales of service in such county, at the same rate of tax imposed pursuant to Section 5-1006.5 of the selling price of all tangible personal property transferred by such serviceman either in the form of tangible personal property or in the form of real estate as an incident to such sale of service to provide revenue to be used exclusively for public safety purposes in that county.  "Public safety" includes, but is not limited to, fire fighting, police, medical ambulance, or other emergency services.  If imposed, such tax shall only be imposed in ¼% increments.  The tax imposed by a county under the Code and this Part, and all civil penalties that may be assessed as an incident thereof, shall be collected and enforced by the Illinois Department of Revenue (Department).

 

b)         Passing on the Tax

            Servicemen are required to collect the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety (when applicable) from purchasers of service in conformance with the requirements of the Service Occupation Tax Regulations (86 Ill. Adm. Code 140).  The legal incidence of the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety is on the serviceman.  Nevertheless, the General Assembly has authorized persons subject to any tax imposed pursuant to the authority granted in the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law to reimburse themselves for their servicemen's Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety liability by separately stating such tax as an additional charge, which charge may be stated in combination, in a single amount, with State tax which  servicemen are authorized to collect under the Service Use Tax Act [35 ILCS 110], pursuant to such bracket schedules as the Department has prescribed (see 86 Ill. Adm. Code 150.Table A).

 

c)         Exclusion from "Cost Prices"

            Any amount added by a serviceman to the selling price of tangible personal property as an incident to service because of a Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety, or because of the Illinois Service Occupation Tax [35 ILCS 115], the Home Rule Municipal Service Occupation Tax [65 ILCS 5/8-11-5], the Non-Home Rule Municipal Service Occupation Tax [65 ILCS 5/8-11-1.4], the Metro East Mass Transit District Service Occupation Tax [70 ILCS 3610/5.01], the Regional Transportation Authority Service Occupation Tax [70 ILCS 3615/4.03] or the County Water Commission Service Occupation Tax [70 ILCS 3720/4(c)], shall not be regarded as a part of the selling price which is subject to such Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety.

 

(Source:  Amended at 22 Ill. Reg. 14930, effective August 3, 1998)

 

Section 680.105  Registration and Returns

 

a)         A serviceman's registration under the Service Occupation Tax Act [35 ILCS 115] or the Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax Act [35 ILCS 120] is sufficient for the purposes of the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law.  No special registration for the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety is required.

 

b)         The information required for the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety shall be furnished on the taxpayer's Illinois Service Occupation Tax return form.

 

c)         The provisions of the Service Occupation Tax Regulations (86 Ill. Adm. Code 140) shall apply to the tax imposed pursuant to this Part.

 

Section 680.110  Claims to Recover Erroneously Paid Tax

 

Claims for Multiple Taxes.  If a claimant files a claim for refund on a transaction which was subject to State and local taxes administered by the Department, the claim need not be filed separately for each type of tax.  A single claim for the total of all applicable taxes will suffice.  The claim will be audited, heard, or otherwise processed as a single claim whenever possible.  A single credit memorandum will be issued which may be used by the claimant or his authorized assignee to pay State or local tax liability.

 

Section 680.115  Jurisdictional Questions

 

a)         When used in this Part, "county" includes all territory located within the county, including all territory within cities, villages or incorporated towns, including an incorporated town which has superseded a civil township.

 

b)         If the Illinois Service Occupation Tax on a transaction is being remitted to the Department by the serviceman, the serviceman shall also pay Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety to the Department on the same transaction if such serviceman's place of business is located in a county which has adopted the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety.  This is true whether the serviceman bought the property in Illinois or outside Illinois.

 

Section 680.120  Incorporation of Service Occupation Tax Regulations by Reference

 

To avoid needless repetition, the substance and provisions of all Service Occupation Tax Regulations (86 Ill. Adm. Code 140) which are not incompatible with the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law or any special Regulations that may be promulgated by the Department thereunder shall apply to the tax imposed pursuant to this Part.

 

Section 680.125  Penalties, Interest and Procedures

 

All penalties (both civil and criminal), provisions concerning interest and procedures (such as the making of assessments, the venue and mode of conducting hearings, subpoenas, matters pertaining to judicial review and other procedural subjects), together with statutes of limitation, are the same under the Special County Service Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law as under the Service Occupation Tax Act.

 

Section 680.130  Ordinance Filing Deadlines; When Tax Rate Change Applies

 

a)         If a county imposes a tax under the Special County Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law (Law), the county board may, by ordinance, discontinue or lower the rate of the tax.  If the county board has lowered the tax rate or discontinued the tax, a referendum must be held in accordance with Section 5-1006.5(a) of the Law, and the referendum must pass, prior to subsequent increases of the rate or reimposition of the tax in order to increase the rate of the tax or to reimpose the discontinued tax. [55 ILCS 5/5-1006.5(e-5)]

 

b)         Beginning January 1, 2014, the results of any election authorizing a proposition to impose the tax or effecting an increase in the rate of the tax, along with the ordinance adopted to impose the tax or increase the rate of the tax, or any ordinance adopted to lower the rate or discontinue the tax, shall be certified by the county clerk and filed with the Illinois Department of Revenue either:

 

1)         on or before the first day of May, whereupon the Department shall proceed to administer and enforce the tax as of the first day of July next following the adoption and filing; or

 

2)         on or before the first day of October, whereupon the Department shall proceed to administer and enforce the tax as of the first day of January next following the adoption and filing. [55 ILCS 5/5-1006.5(f)] 

 

c)         For the purpose of determining which tax rate applies, the date of the sale of service is deemed to be the date of the delivery, to the user, of the tangible personal property which the serviceman retransfers as an incident to service.

 

(Source:  Amended at 39 Ill. Reg. 11519, effective July 29, 2015)