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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Illinois Internet Sales Tax?????

Hi everyone!! I hope you're enjoying the holidays with your family and friends! I sure am! Daughter and her hubby were with us for Christmas. Tomorrow our navy son arrives home (YAY!!) and this weekend we'll have Christmas with my family. So, the celebration continues, which is why I haven't checked in here for a few days!!


I did get something that I thought would be of interest to fellow Illinoisans, though. I get email updates from our state rep, and in her latest one she talked about the Illinois Internet Sales Tax. It is important to read, so I'm going to copy it for you here. I wonder if this is just the state's way to ease us into paying more taxes????!!!! Please read the following so that you have the facts!


You may have read or heard about news reports published this past week about a new state law intended to encourage Illinois taxpayers to pay unpaid "use taxes" on goods bought out-of-state; primarily from Internet purchases. However, there are serious facts about this new law which you should know to avoid any confusion.

"Unpaid use taxes" are the taxes many Illinoisans do not pay when they buy something from the Internet or a mail-order catalog, where a product is shipped to them across state lines. In many cases of this type, the seller does not charge sales tax and the buyer does not pay it. If the item is used in Illinois, however, the buyer is nominally obligated to calculate the tax and take the initiative to pay it to the State, reflecting their household "use tax". There is no way to enforce this requirement - it is up to each Illinois resident to decide whether or not to pay this tax, and if so, how much to pay.

A new law that took effect this summer authorizes the Department of Revenue to use income tax forms to remind Illinois residents of their duty to pay this tax on a voluntary basis. Line 22, on the 2010 individual income tax form (IL-1040), will contain a space for Illinois residents to fill in representing the amount of money they believe they should pay in unpaid use taxes for untaxed goods shipped across state lines.

The State is asking every Illinois individual income taxpayer to fill in Line 22. However, the space can be filled with the number "$0." Nothing in the new law or the new income tax forms requires Illinois residents to accurately estimate their liability or pay this tax.

While the State has no way of knowing how much money we spend on out-of-state goods delivered without payment of sales tax, the use tax table consists of asking taxpayers to multiply their adjusted gross income (AGI) by 0.075% (three-quarters of one-tenth of one percent) and adding the resulting number to our tax bill. For example, if we have an AGI of $50,000, the State would like us to assume we owe $38 in additional voluntary tax. ($50,000 x 1.00% x 1/10 x ¾ = $38.)

This is not an accurate calculation of actual tax liabilities; it represents a guess as to what percentage of Illinois household income is used to buy goods from out of State over the Internet or by conventional mail order.

The new law, Senate Bill 459, makes clear that these will be voluntary payments by individual income taxpayers who want to recognize their obligations to pay the use tax. However, please keep in mind that the Department of Revenue instructs all individual taxpayers to fill in Line 22; "Do not leave blank," the line says.

Commercial tax preparers have indicated their understanding of this directive, but some individual taxpayers who fill out their own tax forms may not be fully aware of this fact.

As always, do not hesitate to call or email me if you have any questions on these or other issues. I can be reached at 847-838-6200 or via e-mail at
reposmond@aol.com. Or, if you have specific questions about the use tax, you can call the Illinois Department of Revenue toll-free at 1-800-732-8866 or visit them online at www.revenue.state.il.us.

Merry Christmas and blessings to all for a very happy holiday season!

Warm Regards,

JoAnn D. Osmond
Assistant Minority Leader
State Representative - 61st District

(Bolded items are from me, Gen.)

Don't forget to check your grocery store for good deals on spices and extra things that they stocked up on for Christmas. Stock up, if you can!! Plus, if you see bags of fresh cranberries on sale, pick up a few. I'll be back in a few days with a post on canning cranberry sauce which is soooo much better than store-bought!!

Prep On!
Gen-IL Homesteader



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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I burst out laughing while reading this. Household use tax, paid voluntarily? Are they serious? I should give another dime to these cheating whores and traitors in our government, voluntarily? Now I'm pretty sure I've heard just about everything. I don't know whether to be appalled at the audacity and arrogance of these parasitic low-lives or just amused.

mmpaints said...

volunteer to pay more???? yah, okay. Somebody is smoking something good over there in springfield. with several commodities such as fuel, food clothing etc having the highest sales tax of all the surrounding states, they really believe we're going to volunteer to pay them even more? I wont even go into the fact that rural folks cant get most of what they need without driving 150 miles round trip to a walmart where they can buy cheap chinese crap... it's the whole reason most of us use internet sales! Now they expect us to punish ourselves for it???

Gen-IL Homesteader said...

Isn't it ridiculous, MM? They seriously think anyone will volunteer for this? My mom's comment was that it looks like they're trying to get us 'used' to this idea. I'm not surprised, though...The state is broke, 'they' won't quit spending our money,and they're running out of it fast. They want MORE!! Well, dog-gone-it, I'm not giving them any more!!!

Gen-IL Homesteader said...

Anonymous, Well said!! I think I'm still just amazed at their outright idiocy in believing anyone would actually DO this! Thanks for stopping by!

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