(50 ILCS 470/31)

Sec. 31. STAR bond occupation taxes.

(a) If the corporate authorities of a political subdivision have established a STAR bond district and have elected to impose a tax by ordinance pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this Section, each year after the date of the adoption of the ordinance and until all STAR bond project costs and all political subdivision obligations financing the STAR bond project costs, if any, have been paid in accordance with the STAR bond project plans, but in no event longer than the maximum maturity date of the last of the STAR bonds issued for projects in the STAR bond district, all amounts generated by the retailers' occupation tax and service occupation tax shall be collected and the tax shall be enforced by the Department of Revenue in the same manner as all retailers' occupation taxes and service occupation taxes imposed in the political subdivision imposing the tax. The corporate authorities of the political subdivision shall deposit the proceeds of the taxes imposed under subsections (b) and (c) into either (i) a special fund held by the corporate authorities of the political subdivision called the STAR Bonds Tax Allocation Fund for the purpose of paying STAR bond project costs and obligations incurred in the payment of those costs if such taxes are designated as pledged STAR revenues by resolution or ordinance of the political subdivision or (ii) the political subdivision's general corporate fund if such taxes are not designated as pledged STAR revenues by resolution or ordinance.

The tax imposed under this Section by a municipality may be imposed only on the portion of a STAR bond district that is within the boundaries of the municipality. For any part of a STAR bond district that lies outside of the boundaries of that municipality, the municipality in which the other part of the STAR bond district lies (or the county, in cases where a portion of the STAR bond district lies in the unincorporated area of a county) is authorized to impose the tax under this Section on that part of the STAR bond district.

(b) The corporate authorities of a political subdivision that has established a STAR bond district under this Act may, by ordinance or resolution, impose a STAR Bond Retailers' Occupation Tax upon all persons engaged in the business of selling tangible personal property, other than an item of tangible personal property titled or registered with an agency of this State's government, at retail in the STAR bond district at a rate not to exceed 1% of the gross receipts from the sales made in the course of that business, to be imposed only in 0.25% increments. The tax may not be imposed on tangible personal property taxed at the 1% rate under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act (or at the 0% rate imposed under this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly). Beginning December 1, 2019 and through December 31, 2020, this tax is not imposed on sales of aviation fuel unless the tax revenue is expended for airport-related purposes. If the District does not have an airport-related purpose to which aviation fuel tax revenue is dedicated, then aviation fuel is excluded from the tax. The municipality must comply with the certification requirements for airport-related purposes under Section 2-22 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. For purposes of this Act, "airport-related purposes" has the meaning ascribed in Section 6z-20.2 of the State Finance Act. Beginning January 1, 2021, this tax is not imposed on sales of aviation fuel for so long as the revenue use requirements of 49 U.S.C. 47107(b) and 49 U.S.C. 47133 are binding on the District.

The tax imposed under this subsection and all civil penalties that may be assessed as an incident thereof shall be collected and enforced by the Department of Revenue. The certificate of registration that is issued by the Department to a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act shall permit the retailer to engage in a business that is taxable under any ordinance or resolution enacted pursuant to this subsection without registering separately with the Department under such ordinance or resolution or under this subsection. The Department of Revenue shall have full power to administer and enforce this subsection, to collect all taxes and penalties due under this subsection in the manner hereinafter provided, and to determine all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of the erroneous payment of tax or penalty under this subsection. In the administration of, and compliance with, this subsection, the Department and persons who are subject to this subsection shall have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers, and duties, and be subject to the same conditions, restrictions, limitations, penalties, exclusions, exemptions, and definitions of terms and employ the same modes of procedure, as are prescribed in Sections 1, 1a through 1o, 2 through 2-65 (in respect to all provisions therein other than the State rate of tax), 2c through 2h, 3 (except as to the disposition of taxes and penalties collected, and except that the retailer's discount is not allowed for taxes paid on aviation fuel that are subject to the revenue use requirements of 49 U.S.C. 47107(b) and 49 U.S.C. 47133), 4, 5, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5i, 5j, 5k, 5l, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act and all provisions of the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act, as fully as if those provisions were set forth herein.

If a tax is imposed under this subsection (b), a tax shall also be imposed under subsection (c) of this Section.

(c) If a tax has been imposed under subsection (b), a STAR Bond Service Occupation Tax shall also be imposed upon all persons engaged, in the STAR bond district, in the business of making sales of service, who, as an incident to making those sales of service, transfer tangible personal property within the STAR bond district, either in the form of tangible personal property or in the form of real estate as an incident to a sale of service. The tax shall be imposed at the same rate as the tax imposed in subsection (b) and shall not exceed 1% of the selling price of tangible personal property so transferred within the STAR bond district, to be imposed only in 0.25% increments. The tax may not be imposed on tangible personal property taxed at the 1% rate under the Service Occupation Tax Act (or at the 0% rate imposed under this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly). Beginning December 1, 2019 and through December 31, 2020, this tax is not imposed on sales of aviation fuel unless the tax revenue is expended for airport-related purposes. If the District does not have an airport-related purpose to which aviation fuel tax revenue is dedicated, then aviation fuel is excluded from the tax. The municipality must comply with the certification requirements for airport-related purposes under Section 2-22 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. For purposes of this Act, "airport-related purposes" has the meaning ascribed in Section 6z-20.2 of the State Finance Act. Beginning January 1, 2021, this tax is not imposed on sales of aviation fuel for so long as the revenue use requirements of 49 U.S.C. 47107(b) and 49 U.S.C. 47133 are binding on the District.

The tax imposed under this subsection and all civil penalties that may be assessed as an incident thereof shall be collected and enforced by the Department of Revenue. The certificate of registration that is issued by the Department to a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act or under the Service Occupation Tax Act shall permit the registrant to engage in a business that is taxable under any ordinance or resolution enacted pursuant to this subsection without registering separately with the Department under that ordinance or resolution or under this subsection. The Department of Revenue shall have full power to administer and enforce this subsection, to collect all taxes and penalties due under this subsection, to dispose of taxes and penalties so collected in the manner hereinafter provided, and to determine all rights to credit memoranda arising on account of the erroneous payment of tax or penalty under this subsection. In the administration of, and compliance with this subsection, the Department and persons who are subject to this subsection shall have the same rights, remedies, privileges, immunities, powers, and duties, and be subject to the same conditions, restrictions, limitations, penalties, exclusions, exemptions, and definitions of terms and employ the same modes of procedure as are prescribed in Sections 2, 2a through 2d, 3 through 3-50 (in respect to all provisions therein other than the State rate of tax), 4 (except that the reference to the State shall be to the STAR bond district), 5, 7, 8 (except that the jurisdiction to which the tax shall be a debt to the extent indicated in that Section 8 shall be the political subdivision), 9 (except as to the disposition of taxes and penalties collected, and except that the returned merchandise credit for this tax may not be taken against any State tax, and except that the retailer's discount is not allowed for taxes paid on aviation fuel that are subject to the revenue use requirements of 49 U.S.C. 47107(b) and 49 U.S.C. 47133), 10, 11, 12 (except the reference therein to Section 2b of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act), 13 (except that any reference to the State shall mean the political subdivision), the first paragraph of Section 15, and Sections 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of the Service Occupation Tax Act and all provisions of the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act, as fully as if those provisions were set forth herein.

If a tax is imposed under this subsection (c), a tax shall also be imposed under subsection (b) of this Section.

(d) Persons subject to any tax imposed under this Section may reimburse themselves for their seller's tax liability under this Section by separately stating the tax as an additional charge, which charge may be stated in combination, in a single amount, with State taxes that sellers are required to collect under the Use Tax Act, in accordance with such bracket schedules as the Department may prescribe.

Whenever the Department determines that a refund should 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 STAR Bond Retailers' Occupation Tax Fund or the Local Government Aviation Trust Fund, as appropriate.

Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the Department shall immediately pay over to the State Treasurer, ex officio, as trustee, all taxes, penalties, and interest collected under this Section for deposit into the STAR Bond Retailers' Occupation Tax Fund. Taxes and penalties collected on aviation fuel sold on or after December 1, 2019, shall be immediately paid over by the Department to the State Treasurer, ex officio, as trustee, for deposit into the Local Government Aviation Trust Fund. The Department shall only pay moneys into the Local Government Aviation Trust Fund under this Section for so long as the revenue use requirements of 49 U.S.C. 47107(b) and 49 U.S.C. 47133 are binding on the District. 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 named political subdivisions from the STAR Bond Retailers' Occupation Tax Fund, the political subdivisions to be those from which retailers have paid taxes or penalties under this Section to the Department during the second preceding calendar month. The amount to be paid to each political subdivision shall be the amount (not including credit memoranda and not including taxes and penalties collected on aviation fuel sold on or after December 1, 2019) collected under this Section 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, less 3% of that amount, which 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 in administering and enforcing the provisions of this Section, on behalf of such political subdivision, and not including any amount that the Department determines is necessary to offset any amounts that were payable to a different taxing body but were erroneously paid to the political subdivision. Within 10 days after receipt by the Comptroller of the disbursement certification to the political subdivisions provided for in this Section to be given to the Comptroller by the Department, the Comptroller shall cause the orders to be drawn for the respective amounts in accordance with the directions contained in the certification. The proceeds of the tax paid to political subdivisions under this Section shall be deposited into either (i) the STAR Bonds Tax Allocation Fund by the political subdivision if the political subdivision has designated them as pledged STAR revenues by resolution or ordinance or (ii) the political subdivision's general corporate fund if the political subdivision has not designated them as pledged STAR revenues.

An ordinance or resolution imposing or discontinuing the tax under this Section or effecting a change in the rate thereof shall either (i) be adopted and a certified copy thereof filed with the Department on or before the first day of April, whereupon the Department, if all other requirements of this Section are met, shall proceed to administer and enforce this Section as of the first day of July next following the adoption and filing; or (ii) be adopted and a certified copy thereof filed with the Department on or before the first day of October, whereupon, if all other requirements of this Section are met, the Department shall proceed to administer and enforce this Section as of the first day of January next following the adoption and filing.

The Department of Revenue shall not administer or enforce an ordinance imposing, discontinuing, or changing the rate of the tax under this Section until the political subdivision also provides, in the manner prescribed by the Department, the boundaries of the STAR bond district and each address in the STAR bond district in such a way that the Department can determine by its address whether a business is located in the STAR bond district. The political subdivision must provide this boundary and address information to the Department on or before April 1 for administration and enforcement of the tax under this Section by the Department beginning on the following July 1 and on or before October 1 for administration and enforcement of the tax under this Section by the Department beginning on the following January 1. The Department of Revenue shall not administer or enforce any change made to the boundaries of a STAR bond district or any address change, addition, or deletion until the political subdivision reports the boundary change or address change, addition, or deletion to the Department in the manner prescribed by the Department. The political subdivision must provide this boundary change or address change, addition, or deletion information to the Department on or before April 1 for administration and enforcement by the Department of the change, addition, or deletion beginning on the following July 1 and on or before October 1 for administration and enforcement by the Department of the change, addition, or deletion beginning on the following January 1. The retailers in the STAR bond district shall be responsible for charging the tax imposed under this Section. If a retailer is incorrectly included or excluded from the list of those required to collect the tax under this Section, both the Department of Revenue and the retailer shall be held harmless if they reasonably relied on information provided by the political subdivision.

A political subdivision that imposes the tax under this Section must submit to the Department of Revenue any other information as the Department may require that is necessary for the administration and enforcement of the tax.

When certifying the amount of a monthly disbursement to a political subdivision 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.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed to authorize the political subdivision to impose a tax upon the privilege of engaging in any business which under the Constitution of the United States may not be made the subject of taxation by this State.

(e) When STAR bond project costs, including, without limitation, all political subdivision obligations financing STAR bond project costs, have been paid, any surplus funds then remaining in the STAR Bonds Tax Allocation Fund shall be distributed to the treasurer of the political subdivision for deposit into the political subdivision's general corporate fund. Upon payment of all STAR bond project costs and retirement of obligations, but in no event later than the maximum maturity date of the last of the STAR bonds issued in the STAR bond district, the political subdivision shall adopt an ordinance immediately rescinding the taxes imposed pursuant to this Section and file a certified copy of the ordinance with the Department in the form and manner as described in this Section.

(Source: P.A. 101-10, eff. 6-5-19; 101-604, eff. 12-13-19; 102-700, eff. 4-19-22.)