Bill Text: IL HB3121 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that certain information that may be disclosed to municipalities may also be disclosed to counties. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-3)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-10-10 - Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b) / Referred to Assignments [HB3121 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB3121-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning revenue.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Retailers' Occupation Tax Act is amended by
changing Section 11 as follows:
(35 ILCS 120/11) (from Ch. 120, par. 450)
Sec. 11. All information received by the Department from
returns filed under this Act, or from any investigation
conducted under this Act, shall be confidential, except for
official purposes, and any person who divulges any such
information in any manner, except in accordance with a proper
judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, shall be guilty
of a Class B misdemeanor with a fine not to exceed $7,500.
Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from
publishing or making available to the public the names and
addresses of persons filing returns under this Act, or
reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the tax by
grouping the contents of returns so the information in any
individual return is not disclosed.
Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from
divulging to the United States Government or the government of
any other state, or any officer or agency thereof, for
exclusively official purposes, information received by the

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Department in administering this Act, provided that such other
governmental agency agrees to divulge requested tax
information to the Department.
The Department's furnishing of information derived from a
taxpayer's return or from an investigation conducted under this
Act to the surety on a taxpayer's bond that has been furnished
to the Department under this Act, either to provide notice to
such surety of its potential liability under the bond or, in
order to support the Department's demand for payment from such
surety under the bond, is an official purpose within the
meaning of this Section.
The furnishing upon request of information obtained by the
Department from returns filed under this Act or investigations
conducted under this Act to the Illinois Liquor Control
Commission for official use is deemed to be an official purpose
within the meaning of this Section.
Notice to a surety of potential liability shall not be
given unless the taxpayer has first been notified, not less
than 10 days prior thereto, of the Department's intent to so
notify the surety.
The furnishing upon request of the Auditor General, or his
authorized agents, for official use, of returns filed and
information related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an
official purpose within the meaning of this Section.
Where an appeal or a protest has been filed on behalf of a
taxpayer, the furnishing upon request of the attorney for the

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taxpayer of returns filed by the taxpayer and information
related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an official
purpose within the meaning of this Section.
The furnishing of financial information to a municipality
or county, upon request of the chief executive officer or
chairman Chief Executive thereof, as appropriate, is an
official purpose within the meaning of this Section, provided
the municipality or county agrees in writing to the
requirements of this Section. Information provided to
municipalities and counties under this paragraph shall be
limited to: (1) the business name; (2) the business address;
(3) the standard classification number assigned to the
business; (4) net revenue distributed to the requesting
municipality or county that is directly related to the
requesting municipality's or county's local share of the
proceeds under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the
Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax
Act distributed from the Local Government Tax Fund, and, if
applicable, any locally imposed retailers' occupation tax or
service occupation tax; and (5) (4) a listing of all businesses
within the requesting municipality or county by account
identification number and address. On and after July 1, 2015,
the furnishing of financial information to municipalities or
counties under this paragraph may be by electronic means.
Information so provided shall be subject to all
confidentiality provisions of this Section. The written

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agreement shall provide for reciprocity, limitations on
access, disclosure, and procedures for requesting information.
Only the chief executive officer or chairman of the
municipality or county, as appropriate, may initiate the
written agreement with the Department. The chief executive
officer or chairman of the municipality or county, as
appropriate, shall provide the Department with a list of names
and official titles of municipal or county employees, as
appropriate, designated by him or her as persons exclusively
authorized to request return information, view return
information, or receive related information on his or her
behalf. This list shall be restricted solely to municipal or
county employees, as appropriate, who are directly involved in
the financial operations of the municipality or county, and the
financial information provided by the Department shall not be
viewed by or shared with anyone who is not approved by the
Department. The written agreement may be canceled by either the
Department or the chief executive officer or chairman, as
appropriate, of the municipality or county at any time and
shall be canceled in the event of any unauthorized use or
disclosure of State tax return information obtained pursuant to
the written agreement, or in the event of a failure to abide by
the procedures set forth in the agreement by the Department for
safeguarding the confidentiality of such return information.
The Department may make available to the Board of Trustees
of any Metro East Mass Transit District information contained

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on transaction reporting returns required to be filed under
Section 3 of this Act that report sales made within the
boundary of the taxing authority of that Metro East Mass
Transit District, as provided in Section 5.01 of the Local Mass
Transit District Act. The disclosure shall be made pursuant to
a written agreement between the Department and the Board of
Trustees of a Metro East Mass Transit District, which is an
official purpose within the meaning of this Section. The
written agreement between the Department and the Board of
Trustees of a Metro East Mass Transit District shall provide
for reciprocity, limitations on access, disclosure, and
procedures for requesting information. Information so provided
shall be subject to all confidentiality provisions of this
Section.
The Director may make available to any State agency,
including the Illinois Supreme Court, which licenses persons to
engage in any occupation, information that a person licensed by
such agency has failed to file returns under this Act or pay
the tax, penalty and interest shown therein, or has failed to
pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or interest due under
this Act. The Director may make available to any State agency,
including the Illinois Supreme Court, information regarding
whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a bidder or
contractor has failed to collect and remit Illinois Use tax on
sales into Illinois, or any tax under this Act or pay the tax,
penalty, and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay any

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final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest due under this
Act, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor
certifications. The Director may make available to units of
local government and school districts that require bidder and
contractor certifications, as set forth in Sections 50-11 and
50-12 of the Illinois Procurement Code, information regarding
whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a bidder or
contractor has failed to collect and remit Illinois Use tax on
sales into Illinois, file returns under this Act, or pay the
tax, penalty, and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay
any final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest due under
this Act, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and
contractor certifications. For purposes of this Section, the
term "affiliate" means any entity that (1) directly,
indirectly, or constructively controls another entity, (2) is
directly, indirectly, or constructively controlled by another
entity, or (3) is subject to the control of a common entity.
For purposes of this Section, an entity controls another entity
if it owns, directly or individually, more than 10% of the
voting securities of that entity. As used in this Section, the
term "voting security" means a security that (1) confers upon
the holder the right to vote for the election of members of the
board of directors or similar governing body of the business or
(2) is convertible into, or entitles the holder to receive upon
its exercise, a security that confers such a right to vote. A
general partnership interest is a voting security.

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The Director may make available to any State agency,
including the Illinois Supreme Court, units of local
government, and school districts, information regarding
whether a bidder or contractor is an affiliate of a person who
is not collecting and remitting Illinois Use taxes for the
limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor
certifications.
The Director may also make available to the Secretary of
State information that a limited liability company, which has
filed articles of organization with the Secretary of State, or
corporation which has been issued a certificate of
incorporation by the Secretary of State has failed to file
returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest
shown therein, or has failed to pay any final assessment of
tax, penalty or interest due under this Act. An assessment is
final when all proceedings in court for review of such
assessment have terminated or the time for the taking thereof
has expired without such proceedings being instituted.
The Director shall make available for public inspection in
the Department's principal office and for publication, at cost,
administrative decisions issued on or after January 1, 1995.
These decisions are to be made available in a manner so that
the following taxpayer information is not disclosed:
(1) The names, addresses, and identification numbers
of the taxpayer, related entities, and employees.
(2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade

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secrets or other confidential information identified as
such by the taxpayer, no later than 30 days after receipt
of an administrative decision, by such means as the
Department shall provide by rule.
The Director shall determine the appropriate extent of the
deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the taxpayer
does not submit deletions, the Director shall make only the
deletions specified in paragraph (1).
The Director shall make available for public inspection and
publication an administrative decision within 180 days after
the issuance of the administrative decision. The term
"administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in
Section 3-101 of Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax
Compliance and Administration Fund.
Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the Director
from divulging information to any person pursuant to a request
or authorization made by the taxpayer or by an authorized
representative of the taxpayer.
(Source: P.A. 98-1058, eff. 1-1-15.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.