(35 ILCS 636/5-50)

Sec. 5-50. Returns to the Department.

(a) Commencing on February 1, 2003, for the tax imposed under subsection (a) of Section 5-20 of this Act, every retailer maintaining a place of business in this State shall, on or before the last day of each month make a return to the Department for the preceding calendar month, stating:

(1) Its name;

(2) The address of its principal place of business or the address of the principal place of business (if that is a different address) from which it engages in the business of transmitting telecommunications;

(3) Total amount of gross charges billed by it during the preceding calendar month for providing telecommunications during the calendar month;

(4) Total amount received by it during the preceding calendar month on credit extended;

(5) Deductions allowed by law;

(6) Gross charges that were billed by it during the preceding calendar month and upon the basis of which the tax is imposed;

(7) Amount of tax (computed upon Item 6);

(8) The municipalities to which the Department shall remit the taxes and the amount of such remittances;

(9) Such other reasonable information as the Department may require.

(b) Any retailer required to make payments under this Section may make the payments by electronic funds transfer. The Department shall adopt rules necessary to effectuate a program of electronic funds transfer. Any retailer who has average monthly tax billings due to the Department under this Act and the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act that exceed $1,000 shall make all payments by electronic funds transfer as required by rules of the Department.

(c) If the retailer's average monthly tax billings due to the Department under this Act and the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act do not exceed $1,000, the Department may authorize such retailer's returns to be filed on a quarter-annual basis, with the return for January, February, and March of a given year being due by April 30th of that year; with the return for April, May, and June of a given year being due by July 31st of that year; with the return for July, August, and September of a given year being due by October 31st of that year; and with the return for October, November, and December of a given year being due by January 31st of the following year.

(d) If the retailer is otherwise required to file a monthly or quarterly return and if the retailer's average monthly tax billings due to the Department under this Act and the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act do not exceed $400, the Department may authorize such retailer's return to be filed on an annual basis, with the return for a given year being due by January 31st of the following year.

(e) Each retailer whose average monthly remittance to the Department under this Act and the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act was $25,000 or more during the preceding calendar year, excluding the month of highest remittance and the month of lowest remittance in such calendar year, and who is not operated by a unit of local government, shall make estimated payments to the Department on or before the 7th, 15th, 22nd, and last day of the month during which the tax remittance is owed to the Department in an amount not less than the lower of either 22.5% of the retailer's actual tax collections for the month or 25% of the retailer's actual tax collections for the same calendar month of the preceding year. The amount of such quarter-monthly payments shall be credited against the final remittance of the retailer's return for that month. Any outstanding credit, approved by the Department, arising from the retailer's overpayment of its final remittance for any month may be applied to reduce the amount of any subsequent quarter-monthly payment or credited against the final remittance of the retailer's return for any subsequent month. If any quarter-monthly payment is not paid at the time or in the amount required by this Section, the retailer shall be liable for penalty and interest on the difference between the minimum amount due as a payment and the amount of such payment actually and timely paid, except insofar as the retailer has previously made payments for that month to the Department or received credits in excess of the minimum payments previously due.

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section containing the time within which a retailer may file his or her return, in the case of any retailer who ceases to engage in a kind of business that makes him or her responsible for filing returns under this Section, the retailer shall file a final return under this Section with the Department not more than one month after discontinuing such business.

(g) In making such return, the retailer shall determine the value of any consideration other than money received by it and such retailer shall include the value in its return. Such determination shall be subject to review and revision by the Department in the manner hereinafter provided for the correction of returns.

(h) Any retailer who has average monthly tax billings due to the Department under this Act and the Telecommunications Excise Tax Act that exceed $1,000 shall file the return required by this Section by electronic means as required by rules of the Department.

(i) The retailer filing the return herein provided for shall, at the time of filing the return, pay to the Department the amounts due pursuant to this Act. The Department shall immediately pay over to the State Treasurer, ex officio, as trustee, 99.5% of all taxes, penalties, and interest collected hereunder for deposit into the Municipal Telecommunications Fund, which is hereby created. The remaining 0.5% received by the Department pursuant to this Act shall be deposited into the Tax Compliance and Administration Fund and shall be used by the Department, subject to appropriation, to cover the costs of the Department.

On or before the 25th day of each calendar month, the Department shall prepare and certify to the Comptroller the disbursement of stated sums of money to be paid to named municipalities from the Municipal Telecommunications Fund for amounts collected during the second preceding calendar month. The named municipalities shall be those municipalities identified by a retailer in such retailer's return as having imposed the tax authorized by the Act. The amount of money to be paid to each municipality shall be the amount (not including credit memoranda) collected hereunder during the second preceding calendar month by the Department, plus an amount the Department determines is necessary to offset any amounts that were erroneously paid to a different taxing body, and not including an amount equal to the amount of refunds made during the second preceding calendar month by the Department on behalf of such municipality, and not including any amount that the Department determines is necessary to offset any amount that were payable to a different taxing body but were erroneously paid to the municipality. Within 10 days after receipt by the Comptroller of the disbursement certification from the Department, the Comptroller shall cause the orders to be drawn for the respective amounts in accordance with the directions contained in the certification. When certifying to the Comptroller the amount of a monthly disbursement to a municipality under this Section, the Department shall increase or decrease the amount by an amount necessary to offset any misallocation of previous disbursements. The offset amount shall be the amount erroneously disbursed within the previous 6 months from the time a misallocation is discovered.

(j) For municipalities with populations of less than 500,000, whenever the Department determines that a refund shall be made under this Section to a claimant instead of issuing a credit memorandum, the Department shall notify the State Comptroller, who shall cause the order to be drawn for the amount specified and to the person named in the notification from the Department. The refund shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of the Municipal Telecommunications Fund.

(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)