Tax Institute Update
May 11, 2012
Senate Committee Action
As previously reported this week, Amendment #1 to SB 282 was heard and passed out of Senate Executive Committee this Wednesday on a partisan vote. As amended, SB 282 would require publicly-traded companies to make confidential tax return information available to the public. The Chamber staff testified in Committee against the bill. Thursday, Chamber representatives met with House Democratic leadership and had a constructive conversation regarding our concerns with the bill. The Chamber believes that this issue is dead for the remainder of the session, but will continue to monitor it closely.
HB 5289 which creates a new “tax evasion” penalty in the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act passed out of Criminal Law Committee as amended by Senate Amendment #2. Amendment #2 further defines “tax evasion” and removes the increased criminal felony charges for failure to file and filing a fraudulent return that were contemplated in earlier versions of the bill. The Attorney General’s Office has asked the Chamber to participate in a working group this summer to review existing criminal penalties for tax evasion.
HB 4110, Senate Amendment #1, passed out of Senate Revenue Committee. HB 4110 amends the Property Tax Code to provide that, if airport property of the Lansing Municipal Airport or the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County is leased to another entity, then the airport property, the leasehold interests, and any improvements are exempt.
HB 5111 was amended in Senate Revenue Committee to provide an immediate effective date. HB 5111 amends the Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Act to provide that an employee who is employed in the service of the applicant for a basic wage for at least 35 hours each week or who renders a standard of service to the applicant that is generally accepted as full-time employment is considered a full-time employee of the applicant regardless of whether a W-2 is issued for the employee by a professional employer organization.
House Revenue Committee Update
HB 4239 passed out of House Revenue Committee this week. It amends the Property Tax Code to provide procedures for requesting a homestead leasehold exemption.
SB 3619 which amends the Angel Investment Credit was amended in House Revenue Committee to remove language that provided conditions under which businesses would not have to re-pay the amount of credit awarded and used in situations where the business is bankrupt or insolvent, moves out of state, or the venture begins to have its common stock sold on an established securities market.
Independent Tax Tribunal One Step Closer!
After weeks of negotiations, the Illinois Chamber, TFI and the Department of Revenue reached agreement this week on proposed legislative language to implement an Independent Illinois Tax Tribunal effective July 1, 2013. An amendment to HB 5219 sponsored by Rep. Mike Zalewski will be filed this coming Tuesday. Illinois taxpayers will now be able to seek independent administrative review of a Department of Revenue assessment without first pre-paying the tax, penalties and interest assessed by the Department. We will keep you posted on HB 5219 progress. Our sincere thanks to Representative’s Barbara Flynn-Currie and Mike Zalewski for all their hard work in helping us move this important legislation forward!
Save the Dates!
Illinois Chamber Annual Meeting in Chicago: June 8, 2012
Illinois Chamber Tax Institute Annual Meeting in Chicago: July 13, 2012.
