101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB2911

 

Introduced 2/4/2020, by Sen. Andy Manar

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
30 ILCS 5/6-1  from Ch. 15, par. 306-1
35 ILCS 5/917  from Ch. 120, par. 9-917

    Amends the Illinois State Auditing Act. Provides that federal tax information disclosed under the Act shall only be provided in accordance with federal law and regulation applicable to the safeguarding of federal tax information. Provides that the specified requirements concerning confidentiality of information apply to contractors of the Office of the Auditor General. Removes prior provisions concerning the release of confidential income tax records. Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that the furnishing upon request of the Auditor General, or his or her authorized agents, for official use of tax returns filed and information related thereto under the Act is deemed to be an official purpose within the Department of Revenue for the purposes of confidentiality and information sharing. Effective immediately.


LRB101 19828 RJF 69348 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2911LRB101 19828 RJF 69348 b

1    AN ACT concerning finance.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois State Auditing Act is amended by
5changing Section 6-1 as follows:
 
6    (30 ILCS 5/6-1)  (from Ch. 15, par. 306-1)
7    Sec. 6-1. Effect on other laws. The powers and duties of
8the Auditor General under this Act and the system of audits
9established by this Act are in addition to any other powers,
10duties or audits required or authorized by law.
11    Where records or information are classified as
12confidential, by or pursuant to law, such records or
13information shall be disclosed to the Office of the Auditor
14General as necessary and to the extent required for the
15performance of an authorized post audit. Federal tax
16information shall only be provided in accordance with federal
17law and regulation applicable to the safeguarding of federal
18tax information. However, only a payroll employee of the Office
19of the Auditor General, specifically designated in writing by
20the Auditor General, may receive confidential income tax
21records.
22    Confidential records or information disclosed to the
23Office of the Auditor General shall be subject to the same

 

 

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1legal confidentiality and protective restrictions in the
2Office of the Auditor General as such records and information
3have in the hands of the official authorized custodian. Any
4penalties applicable to the officially authorized custodian or
5his employees for the violation of any confidentiality or
6protective restrictions applicable to such records or
7information shall also apply to the officers, employees,
8contractors, and agents of the Office of the Auditor General.
9    The Office of the Auditor General may not publish any
10confidential information or records in any report, including
11data and statistics, if such information as published is
12directly or indirectly matchable to any individual.
13    Inside the Office of the Auditor General, confidential
14records or information may be used only for official purposes.
15    Any officer, employee, contractor, or agent of the Office
16of the Auditor General who violates any legal confidentiality
17or protective restriction governing any records or information
18shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor unless a greater
19penalty is otherwise provided by law.
20    Where this Act expressly governs or grants authority for
21regulations to govern other auditing procedures, this Act
22supersedes all other statutes to the contrary. To the extent
23that this Act conflicts with another statute, this Act
24prevails.
25    Except as provided in this Section, this Act does not
26supersede or repeal by implication any other statute.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 82-414.)
 
2    Section 10. The Illinois Income Tax Act is amended by
3changing Section 917 as follows:
 
4    (35 ILCS 5/917)  (from Ch. 120, par. 9-917)
5    Sec. 917. Confidentiality and information sharing.
6    (a) Confidentiality. Except as provided in this Section,
7all information received by the Department from returns filed
8under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under the
9provisions of this Act, shall be confidential, except for
10official purposes within the Department or pursuant to official
11procedures for collection of any State tax or pursuant to an
12investigation or audit by the Illinois State Scholarship
13Commission of a delinquent student loan or monetary award or
14enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or sanction
15imposed by this Act or by another statute imposing a State tax,
16and any person who divulges any such information in any manner,
17except for such purposes and pursuant to order of the Director
18or in accordance with a proper judicial order, shall be guilty
19of a Class A misdemeanor. However, the provisions of this
20paragraph are not applicable to information furnished to (i)
21the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (formerly
22Department of Public Aid), State's Attorneys, and the Attorney
23General for child support enforcement purposes and (ii) a
24licensed attorney representing the taxpayer where an appeal or

 

 

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1a protest has been filed on behalf of the taxpayer. If it is
2necessary to file information obtained pursuant to this Act in
3a child support enforcement proceeding, the information shall
4be filed under seal. The furnishing upon request of the Auditor
5General, or his or her authorized agents, for official use of
6returns filed and information related thereto under this Act is
7deemed to be an official purpose within the Department within
8the meaning of this Section.
9    (b) Public information. Nothing contained in this Act shall
10prevent the Director from publishing or making available to the
11public the names and addresses of persons filing returns under
12this Act, or from publishing or making available reasonable
13statistics concerning the operation of the tax wherein the
14contents of returns are grouped into aggregates in such a way
15that the information contained in any individual return shall
16not be disclosed.
17    (c) Governmental agencies. The Director may make available
18to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States or his
19delegate, or the proper officer or his delegate of any other
20state imposing a tax upon or measured by income, for
21exclusively official purposes, information received by the
22Department in the administration of this Act, but such
23permission shall be granted only if the United States or such
24other state, as the case may be, grants the Department
25substantially similar privileges. The Director may exchange
26information with the Department of Healthcare and Family

 

 

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1Services and the Department of Human Services (acting as
2successor to the Department of Public Aid under the Department
3of Human Services Act) for the purpose of verifying sources and
4amounts of income and for other purposes directly connected
5with the administration of this Act, the Illinois Public Aid
6Code, and any other health benefit program administered by the
7State. The Director may exchange information with the Director
8of the Department of Employment Security for the purpose of
9verifying sources and amounts of income and for other purposes
10directly connected with the administration of this Act and Acts
11administered by the Department of Employment Security. The
12Director may make available to the Illinois Workers'
13Compensation Commission information regarding employers for
14the purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under
15the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational
16Diseases Act. The Director may exchange information with the
17Illinois Department on Aging for the purpose of verifying
18sources and amounts of income for purposes directly related to
19confirming eligibility for participation in the programs of
20benefits authorized by the Senior Citizens and Persons with
21Disabilities Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance
22Act. The Director may exchange information with the State
23Treasurer's Office and the Department of Employment Security
24for the purpose of implementing, administering, and enforcing
25the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act. The Director
26may exchange information with the State Treasurer's Office for

 

 

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1the purpose of administering the Revised Uniform Unclaimed
2Property Act or successor Acts.
3    The Director may make available to any State agency,
4including the Illinois Supreme Court, which licenses persons to
5engage in any occupation, information that a person licensed by
6such agency has failed to file returns under this Act or pay
7the tax, penalty and interest shown therein, or has failed to
8pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or interest due under
9this Act. The Director may make available to any State agency,
10including the Illinois Supreme Court, information regarding
11whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a bidder or
12contractor has failed to file returns under this Act or pay the
13tax, penalty, and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay
14any final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest due under
15this Act, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and
16contractor certifications. For purposes of this Section, the
17term "affiliate" means any entity that (1) directly,
18indirectly, or constructively controls another entity, (2) is
19directly, indirectly, or constructively controlled by another
20entity, or (3) is subject to the control of a common entity.
21For purposes of this subsection (a), an entity controls another
22entity if it owns, directly or individually, more than 10% of
23the voting securities of that entity. As used in this
24subsection (a), the term "voting security" means a security
25that (1) confers upon the holder the right to vote for the
26election of members of the board of directors or similar

 

 

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1governing body of the business or (2) is convertible into, or
2entitles the holder to receive upon its exercise, a security
3that confers such a right to vote. A general partnership
4interest is a voting security.
5    The Director may make available to any State agency,
6including the Illinois Supreme Court, units of local
7government, and school districts, information regarding
8whether a bidder or contractor is an affiliate of a person who
9is not collecting and remitting Illinois Use taxes, for the
10limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor
11certifications.
12    The Director may also make available to the Secretary of
13State information that a corporation which has been issued a
14certificate of incorporation by the Secretary of State has
15failed to file returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty
16and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay any final
17assessment of tax, penalty or interest due under this Act. An
18assessment is final when all proceedings in court for review of
19such assessment have terminated or the time for the taking
20thereof has expired without such proceedings being instituted.
21For taxable years ending on or after December 31, 1987, the
22Director may make available to the Director or principal
23officer of any Department of the State of Illinois, information
24that a person employed by such Department has failed to file
25returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest
26shown therein. For purposes of this paragraph, the word

 

 

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1"Department" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section
23 of the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971.
3    (d) The Director shall make available for public inspection
4in the Department's principal office and for publication, at
5cost, administrative decisions issued on or after January 1,
61995. These decisions are to be made available in a manner so
7that the following taxpayer information is not disclosed:
8        (1) The names, addresses, and identification numbers
9    of the taxpayer, related entities, and employees.
10        (2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade
11    secrets or other confidential information identified as
12    such by the taxpayer, no later than 30 days after receipt
13    of an administrative decision, by such means as the
14    Department shall provide by rule.
15    The Director shall determine the appropriate extent of the
16deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the taxpayer
17does not submit deletions, the Director shall make only the
18deletions specified in paragraph (1).
19    The Director shall make available for public inspection and
20publication an administrative decision within 180 days after
21the issuance of the administrative decision. The term
22"administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in
23Section 3-101 of Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure.
24Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax
25Compliance and Administration Fund.
26    (e) Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the

 

 

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1Director from divulging information to any person pursuant to a
2request or authorization made by the taxpayer, by an authorized
3representative of the taxpayer, or, in the case of information
4related to a joint return, by the spouse filing the joint
5return with the taxpayer.
6(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-571, eff. 7-15-16;
7100-47, eff. 8-11-17; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18.)
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9becoming law.