Section 670.101  Nature of the Special County Retailers' 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 selling tangible personal property, other than an item of tangible personal property titled or registered with this State's government, at retail in the county on the gross receipts from sales made in the course of such business to provide revenue to be used exclusively for public safety purposes in that county, if a proposition for the tax has been submitted to the electors of that county and approved by a majority of those voting on the question.  "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. This additional tax may not be imposed on the sales of food for human consumption which is to be consumed off the premises where it is sold (other than alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and food which has been prepared for immediate consumption) and prescription and non-prescription medicines, drugs, medical appliances and insulin, urine testing materials, syringes and needles used by diabetics (Section 5-1006.5 of the Code).  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

            The legal incidence of the Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety is on the seller.  Nevertheless, the General Assembly has authorized persons subject to any tax imposed pursuant to the authority granted in the Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law to reimburse themselves for their sellers' Special County Retailers' 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 sellers are required to collect under the Use Tax Act [35 ILCS 105], pursuant to such bracket schedules as the Department has prescribed (see 86 Ill. Adm. Code 150.Table A).

 

c)         Exclusion from "Gross Receipts"

            Any amount added to the selling price of tangible personal property by the seller because of a Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety, or because of the Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax, or  as Illinois Use Tax, and collected from the purchaser, shall not be regarded as a part of the seller's gross receipts that are subject to such Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety.

 

(Source:  Amended at 22 Ill. Reg. 14926, effective August 3, 1998)

 

Section 670.105  Registration and Returns

 

a)         Separate Registration not Required

            A retailer's registration under the Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax Act [35 ILCS 120] is sufficient for the Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law.  No special registration for the Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety is required.

 

b)         Requirements as to Returns

 

1)         The information required for the Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety shall be furnished on the retailer's Retailers' Occupation Tax return form.

 

2)         If the retailer files his Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax returns on the gross receipts basis, he must report Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety information in his returns on the same basis.  If the retailer files his Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax returns on the gross sales basis, he must report Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety information in his returns on the gross sales basis.

 

Section 670.110  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 670.115  Jurisdictional Questions

 

The substance and provisions of 86 Ill. Adm. Code 270.115 of the Home Rule Municipal Retailers' Occupation Tax Regulations which are not incompatible with the Special County Occupation Tax For Public Safety shall apply to this Part. References to a "home rule municipality" or "municipality" in Section 270.115 mean "county" for purposes of this Section. References to the Home Rule Municipal Retailers’ Occupation Tax in Section 270.115 mean Special County Retailers' Occupation Tax for Public Safety for purposes of this Part.  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 that has superseded a civil township.

 

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 2801, effective February 7, 2023)

 

Section 670.120  Incorporation of Retailers' Occupation Tax Regulations by Reference

 

To avoid needless repetition, the substance and provisions of all Retailers' Occupation Tax Regulations (86 Ill. Adm. Code 130) which are not incompatible with the Special County Retailers' 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 670.125  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 Retailers' Occupation Tax For Public Safety Law as under the Illinois Retailers' Occupation Tax Act [35 ILCS 120].

 

Section 670.130  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 is deemed to be the date of the delivery of the property.

 

(Source:  Amended at 39 Ill. Reg. 11515, effective July 29, 2015)