Illinois General Assembly

The House and Senate will returned to Springfield for the beginning of the spring legislative session on January 28.

The House Revenue committee is scheduled to meet next week on February 5.  A number of items have been posted for committee consideration, but as of today it is unclear as to which of the posted bills will actually be considered by the committee.  

The Senate Revenue committee is also scheduled to meet on February 5. At this point we don't know which of the bills  posted for the next hearing will actually be considered by the committee

The Chair of the Senate Revenue committee is Senator  Cristina Castro. Senator  Iris Y. Martinez, who was Chair of the committee during the fall veto session after Senator Toi Hutchinson resigned from the Senate to become the cannabis czar, will continue on the committee as Vice-Chair. Senator Harmon moved off the committee after his election as Senate President and has been replaced with Senator  Robert Martwick.  You may recall that prior to being appointed to the Senate, Senator Martwick served in the House and was a member of the House Revenue committee.

New legislation

HB 4245 - Meyers-Martin -  Amends the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Act. Provides that, from January 4, 2021 through March 1, 2021, taxpayers may apply for a loan up to the amount of $15,000 to pay all or a part of real estate taxes payable and due from preceding years. 

HB 4258 - Ortiz - Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that qualified property that is owned by the surviving spouse of a fallen police officer, soldier, or rescue worker is exempt from taxation under the Code (currently, the governing body of a county or municipality may order the county clerk to abate those taxes). Effective immediately.

HB 4278 - Gong-Gershowitz -  Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, for taxable years 2020 and thereafter, the maximum income limitation for the senior citizens assessment freeze homestead exemption is $75,000 (currently, $65,000) for all qualified property.

HB 4288 - Reick -  Creates the 72-Hour Budget Review Act. Sets forth time requirements for which certain appropriation or revenue legislation must be made publicly available before passage. Provides that the time requirements may be waived by an affirmative two-thirds vote of the full committee or house considering the legislation. Effective immediately.

HB 4289 - Reick - Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that, if the amount of the credit for residential real property taxes exceeds the taxpayer's liability, that amount shall be refunded if the taxpayer is 65 years or older and has a federal adjusted gross income of not more than $50,000. Provides that the credit is exempt from the Act's automatic sunset provision. Effective immediately.

HB 4300 - Didech -  Creates the Coal Severance Tax Act. Imposes a tax upon the severance and preparation of coal for sale, profit, or commercial use, if the coal is severed from a mine located in this State. Provides that the rate of tax is 5% of the gross value of the severed coal. Contains provisions concerning returns and penalties. Effective January 1, 2020.

HB 4302 - Skillicorn - Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Reduces the trailer flat weight tax for maximum loads of 3,000 lbs. and less from $118 to $18. Effective immediately.

HB 4321 - McCombie - Amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act. Provides that, for persons dying on or after January 1, 2021, the exclusion amount shall be the applicable exclusion amount calculated under Section 2010 of the Internal Revenue Code, including any deceased spousal unused exclusion amount (currently, the exclusion amount for Illinois estate tax purposes is $4,000,000). Effective immediately.

HB 4343 - Bennett - Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates a credit in an amount equal to 10% of the stipend or salary paid by the taxpayer to up to (i) 5 qualified college interns or (ii) 5 qualified high school interns during the taxable year. Provides that no taxpayer may claim more than $5,000 in total credits under that Section for all taxable years combined. Provides that the credit is exempt from the Act's automatic sunset provision. Effective immediately.

HB 4348 - Bennett - Amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act. Provides that, for persons dying on or after January 1, 2021, the exclusion amount shall be the applicable exclusion amount calculated under Section 2010 of the Internal Revenue Code, including any deceased spousal unused exclusion amount (currently, the exclusion amount for Illinois estate tax purposes is $4,000,000). Effective immediately.

HB 4363 - Moeller - Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that a taxpayer who is a family caregiver is eligible to receive a nonrefundable income tax credit in an amount equal to 100% of the eligible expenditures incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year related to the care of an eligible family member, but not exceed $750 for the same eligible family member. Provides that the term "eligible family member" means a person who: (1) is at least 50 years of age during a taxable year; (2) requires assistance with at least one activity of daily living; (3) is a resident of the State; and (4) is related to the family caregiver. Effective immediately.

HB 4373 - Halpin - I flagged this bill because there is a grant of some taxing authority to the Authority in the legislation.  Creates the Quad Cities Regional Metropolitan Authority Compact Act. Provides for the creation of the Quad Cities Regional Metropolitan Authority by the states of Illinois and Iowa. Provides that the territory of the Authority is Scott County, Iowa and Rock Island County, Illinois. Provides that the purposes of the Authority are to provide facilities and to foster cooperative efforts for the development and public benefit of its territory. Sets forth the membership of the board of the Authority and the powers and duties of the Authority. Effective immediately.

HB 4383 - LaPointe - Amends the Property Tax Code. Creates a homestead exemption of $1,000 for homestead property on which a stormwater retention basin has been constructed during the taxable year. Effective immediately.

HB 4410 - Spain - Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the abatement for property located in an area of urban decay also applies to newly remodeled single-family or duplex residential dwelling units (currently, only newly constructed single-family or duplex dwelling units).

SB 2516 - Bush -  Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that the research and development credit applies on a permanent basis. Effective immediately.

SB 2521 - McConchie - This is an Illinois Chamber of Commerce Tax Institute intiative.  Amends the Use Tax Act and the Service Use Tax Act. Provides that the multistate exemption includes the return of property of an out-of-State lessor or purchaser to this State for storage, repair, or refurbishment, so long as the property is not used by a lessee or purchaser in this State. Effective immediately.

SB 2524 - Holmes - Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, in a county under township organization with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants and an appointed board of review, the county board may, by resolution, require that members of the board of review have certain professional assessment designations. Provides that, if the county board requires those designations, then provisions of the Code concerning the political makeup of the board of review do not apply to that county. 

SB 2542 - Jones - Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, if a tax objection complaint has been filed, or when a petition filed with the Property Tax Appeal Board remains pending at the time the tax is due, the taxpayer may elect to (i) pay all of the tax due or (ii) pay the amount of tax due for the immediately preceding tax year. Contains provisions requiring the taxpayer to notify all taxing districts if the taxpayer elects to make a partial payment.

SB 2543 - Jones - Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the assessor in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants shall include compulsory sales when revising assessments. Provides that the board of review in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants shall include compulsory sales in reviewing and correcting assessments and shall consider whether the compulsory sale would otherwise be considered an arm's length transaction. Effective immediately.

SB 2547 - Holmes - Amends the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act of the Illinois Municipal Code. Revises the definition of "redevelopment project costs" by providing that redevelopment project costs for a redevelopment project area includes all or a portion of a taxing district's capital or operating costs reasonably incurred or to be incurred within a redevelopment project area as a result of fire protection services. Provides that the provisions do not apply to municipalities with a population of 1,000,000 or more or to a redevelopment project area located within a transit facility improvement area. Effective immediately.

SB 2566  - Holmes - This is an Illinois Chamber of Commerce Tax Institute initiative.   Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit in an amount equal to 1% of the expenses claimed by the taxpayer as a federal income tax deduction pursuant to Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code for the tax year. Provides that the taxpayer may sell, assign, or transfer the credit. Provides that the maximum aggregate amount of credits awarded for those purposes may not exceed $30,000,000 in any calendar year. Amends the Uniform Penalty and Interest Act to provide that, if the amount of the credit is reduced because the claims for credit exceed the maximum aggregate amount of the credit, then no underpayment penalty or interest shall accrue on the additional tax so long as the additional tax is paid within 60 days after the notice of reduction. Effective immediately.

SB 2567  - Holmes - This is an Illinois Chamber of Commerce Tax Institute initiative.   Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Provides that the maximum withholding tax credit for full-time equivalent employees is determined by the Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan area of the State that is the base of operations of the employee, as those areas are determined as of May 2017. Makes changes concerning the amount of the credit based on the Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan area of the State. Makes technical corrections. Effective immediately.

SB 2741 - DeWitte - Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that provisions concerning delinquencies by lessees of property owned by a taxing district apply in all counties with a population of fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants (currently, counties with more than 800,000 but less than 1,000,000 inhabitants). Provides that those provisions apply if the taxes remain unpaid 60 days after the final (currently, second) installment due date. Effective immediately.

New amendments

SB 2341  - Bush - The amendment turns this Property Tax Code bill into a shell bill.

Rulemaking