(35 ILCS 120/5m)

Sec. 5m. Building materials exemption; REV Illinois projects. Each retailer who makes a sale of building materials that will be incorporated into a REV Illinois Project for which a certificate of exemption has been issued by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity under Section 105 of the Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois Act may deduct receipts from those sales when calculating any State or local use and occupation taxes. No retailer who is eligible for the deduction or credit under Section 5k of this Act related to enterprise zones or Section 5l of this Act related to High Impact Businesses for a given sale shall be eligible for the deduction or credit authorized under this Section for that same sale.

In addition to any other requirements to document the exemption allowed under this Section, the retailer must obtain the purchaser's REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption certificate number issued by the Department. A construction contractor or other entity shall not make tax-free purchases under this Section unless it has an active REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate issued by the Department at the time of purchase.

Upon request from the certified manufacturer, the Department shall issue a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate for each construction contractor or other entity identified by the certified manufacturer. The Department shall make the REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificates available to each construction contractor or other entity identified by the certified manufacturer and to the certified manufacturer. The request for REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificates under this Section must include the following information:

(1) the name and address of the construction contractor or other entity;

(2) the name and location or address of the building project site;

(3) the estimated amount of the exemption for each construction contractor or other entity for which a request for a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate is made, based on a stated estimated average tax rate and the percentage of the contract that consists of materials;

(4) the period of time over which supplies for the project are expected to be purchased; and

(5) other reasonable information as the Department may require, including but not limited to FEIN numbers, to determine if the contractor or other entity, or any partner, or a corporate officer, and in the case of a limited liability company, any manager or member, of the construction contractor or other entity, is or has been the owner, a partner, a corporate officer, and in the case of a limited liability company, a manager or member, of a person that is in default for moneys due to the Department under this Act or any other tax or fee Act administered by the Department.

The Department shall issue the REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificates within 3 business days after receipt of the request from the certified manufacturer. This requirement does not apply in circumstances where the Department, for reasonable cause, is unable to issue the Exemption Certificate within 3 business days. The Department may refuse to issue a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate if the owner, any partner, or a corporate officer, and in the case of a limited liability company, any manager or member, of the construction contractor or other entity is or has been the owner, a partner, a corporate officer, and in the case of a limited liability company, a manager or member, of a person that is in default for moneys due to the Department under this Act or any other tax or fee Act administered by the Department.

The REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate shall contain language stating that if the construction contractor or other entity who is issued the Exemption Certificate makes a tax-exempt purchase, as described in this Section, that is not eligible for exemption under this Section or allows another person to make a tax-exempt purchase, as described in this Section, that is not eligible for exemption under this Section, then, in addition to any tax or other penalty imposed, the construction contractor or other entity is subject to a penalty equal to the tax that would have been paid by the retailer under this Act as well as any applicable local retailers' occupation tax on the purchase that is not eligible for the exemption.

The Department, in its discretion, may require that the request for REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificates be submitted electronically. The Department may, in its discretion, issue the Exemption Certificates electronically. The REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate number shall be designed in such a way that the Department can identify from the unique number on the Exemption Certificate issued to a given construction contractor or other entity, the name of the REV Illinois project site and the construction contractor or other entity to whom the Exemption Certificate is issued. The REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate shall contain an expiration date, which shall be no more than 5 years after the date of issuance. At the request of the certified manufacturer, the Department may renew a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate. After the Department issues Exemption Certificates for a given REV Illinois project site, the certified manufacturer may notify the Department of additional construction contractors or other entities that are eligible for a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate. Upon receiving such a notification and subject to the other provisions of this Section, the Department shall issue a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate to each additional construction contractor or other entity so identified. A certified manufacturer may ask the Department to rescind a REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate previously issued by the Department to a construction contractor or other entity working at that certified manufacturer's REV Illinois project site if that REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate has not yet expired. Upon receiving such a request and subject to the other provisions of this Section, the Department shall issue the rescission of the REV Illinois Building Materials Exemption Certificate to the construction contractor or other entity identified by the certified manufacturer and provide a copy of the rescission to the construction contractor or other entity and to the certified manufacturer.

If the Department of Revenue determines that a construction contractor or other entity that was issued an Exemption Certificate under this Section made a tax-exempt purchase, as described in this Section, that was not eligible for exemption under this Section or allowed another person to make a tax-exempt purchase, as described in this Section, that was not eligible for exemption under this Section, then, in addition to any tax or other penalty imposed, the construction contractor or other entity is subject to a penalty equal to the tax that would have been paid by the retailer under this Act as well as any applicable local retailers' occupation tax on the purchase that was not eligible for the exemption.

This Section is exempt from the provisions of Section 2-70.

As used in this Section, "certified manufacturer" means a person certified by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity under Section 105 of the Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-669, eff. 11-16-21; 102-1125, eff. 2-3-23.)