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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Join the APN Forum at www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net
Visit the Illinois Forum at www.IllinoisPreppersNetwork.net

Merry Christmas!!

Hi everyone!! I wanted to wish you all a most blessed and wonderful Christmas!!

'And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.'" Luke 2:10-11

Blessings,

Gen-IL Homesteader

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Join the APN Forum at http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/
Visit the Illinois Forum at http://www.illinoispreppersnetwork.net/

Prepper Christmas Gifts

I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful Christmas day with those you love. I hope it was peaceful. I'm thankful we had heat and electricity, when so many were without due to storms. Let's not forget that those types of emergencies could happen at any time to any one of us, and that is why we prep.

I was wondering if anyone gave or received any 'prepper' gifts for Christmas this year? Were you inspired by Kentucky Prepper's 12 Days of Prepper Christmas Gifts? Did you have friends or family who wanted prepping help, so you gave them prepper gifts?

We didn't give any prepper gifts to others this year, unless you want to count the candles that were given. (Emergency lighting, right?) But we did give ourselves some prepper gifts. For years, my favorite magazine has been Countryside and Small Stock Journal, and from their bookstore we bought two books: Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game (Would have come in handy when hubby got his first deer over Thanksgiving weekend. Thank God for youtube!), and Herbal Remedy Gardens. I'm really looking forward to all the info that those books will provide.

I also asked hubby for a subscription to another homesteading/prepping magazine called Backwoods Home. Along with that subscription we received a free book entitled Harvesting the Wild, Gathering and Using Food From Nature. I asked for a new canning book by Jackie Clay entitled Growing and Canning Your Own Food (a girl can't have too many canning books/cookbooks, can she?) and with that order we received another free book entitled Starting Over, Chronicles of a Self-Reliant Woman. So, our prepping library grew this Christmas! I'm ready for some good reading, learning, and inspiration in the new year. Remember that if all of your prepper info is on the computer, it will be no good to you if the electricity is out. Print those important pages out, or buy books that have the info you need.

Lastly, hubby got me a surprise gift: a 1925 Victrola, along with a few old records. He laughed and said that it's emergency music!! Gotta love it! We enjoyed listening to some old, fuzzy-sounding waltzes and polkas on it. What a great time!

I'd love to hear about any prepper gifts you gave/received.
Prep on!
Gen--IL Homesteader

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to wish you all a blessed, Merry Christmas! Enjoy your day, whether it be with your family, loved ones, friends, or by yourself in the peace and quiet. (A shout out to HermitJim!)

'And the angel said unto them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."' Luke 2:10-11

Prep on!

Gen--IL Homesteader

Stock Up with Holiday Sales

I'll be going out this weekend to get a few things from the grocery store, and wanted to remind you all that most stores will still have baked goods on sale for the next week. Now is a great time to stock up on flour, sugar, spices, nuts, candy, etc. You should be able to snag some great deals!

Also, on the day after Christmas most stores will be marking down prices on Christmas candy and other Christmas-themed foods. I don't know about you, but in the event of an emergency, I'd love to have some chocolate on hand! Chocolate makes any situation better, doesn't it, ladies?

Like most of you, I'll be finishing my Christmas preparations this week (and I'm putting in a few hours working with hubby every day), so I might not post much until after Christmas. I'm really excited about some ideas that I'm working on for the new year's posts, though. (More to come on that later!) God bless and Prep on!

Gen--IL Homesteader