Section 150.701  When and Where to File a Return

a)         Purchases by Persons not Registered to File Returns

1)         Purchases from Retailers in Illinois.  If a purchaser who is not registered as a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act purchases tangible personal property other than a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, trailer, or cigarettes at retail from a retailer in Illinois, but does not pay the use tax to such retailer, the purchaser shall pay the use tax directly to the Department.  Except as provided in subsection (a)(3), such remittance to the Department shall be made by the last day of the month following the month in which the purchaser makes any payment on the selling price of the tangible personal property and shall be accompanied by a return on a form prescribed by the Department.

2)         Taxable Moment for Purchases Made Out-of-State from Retailers.  If a purchaser who is not registered as a retailer under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act purchases tangible personal property other than a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, trailer, or cigarettes out-of-State at retail from a retailer, but does not pay the use tax to such retailer, the liability for the tax imposed by the Act arises on the date such tangible personal property is brought into this State.  [35 ILCS 105/10]  The purchaser shall pay the use tax directly to the Department.  Except as provided in subsection (a)(3) of this Section, such remittance to the Department shall be made within 30 days after the tangible personal property purchased out-of-State is brought into Illinois and shall be accompanied by a return on a form prescribed by the Department.

3)         However, except as to motor vehicles and aircraft, and except as to cigarettes as defined in the Cigarette Use Tax Act, if the purchaser's annual use tax liability does not exceed $600, the purchaser may file the return on an annual basis on or before April 15^th of the year following the year use tax liability was incurred.  Individual purchasers with an annual use tax liability that does not exceed $600 may, in lieu of the filing and payment requirements in this Section, file and pay in compliance with Section 502.1 of the Illinois Income Tax Act.

4)         When tangible personal property, other than motor vehicles and trailers, is purchased by a lessor, under a lease for one year or longer, executed or in effect at the time of purchase to an interstate carrier for hire, who did not pay the tax imposed by the Act to the retailer, such lessor (by the last day of the month following the calendar month in which such property reverts to the use of such lessor) shall file a return with the Department and pay the tax upon the fair market value of such property on the date of such reversion.  (See Section 130.340(f)(5) and 130.340(g)(5)).  However, in determining the fair market value at the time of reversion, the fair market value of such property shall not exceed the original purchase price of the property that was paid by the lessor at the time of purchase.  Such return shall be filed on a form prescribed by the Department and shall contain such information as the Department may reasonably require.  Such return and payment from the purchaser shall be submitted to the Department sooner than the last day of the month after the month in which the purchase is made.  [35 ILCS 105/10]  This provision applies equally to owners, lessors, or shippers who purchase tangible personal property, other than motor vehicles and trailers, that is utilized by interstate carriers for hire as rolling stock.  For the treatment of an item purchased by a lessor for use as rolling stock other than in a situation where the item is under a lease for one year or longer, executed or in effect at the time of purchase to an interstate carrier for hire, see 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.340.

5)         If cigarettes, as defined in the Cigarette Use Tax Act, are purchased from a retailer for use in this State by a purchaser who did not pay the tax imposed by the Act to the retailer, and a purchaser who does not file returns with the Department as a retailer under Section 9 of the Act, such purchaser must, within 30 days after acquiring the cigarettes, file a return with the Department and pay the tax upon that portion of the selling price so paid by the purchaser for the cigarettes.  When cigarettes, as defined in the Cigarette Use Tax Act, are purchased out-of-state from a retailer for use in this State by a purchaser who did not pay the tax imposed by the Act to the retailer, and a purchaser who does not file returns with the Department as a retailer under Section 9 of the Act, the liability for the tax imposed by the Act arises on the date such cigarettes are brought into this State.  The purchaser shall, within 30 days after such cigarettes are brought into this State, file with the Department, upon a form to be prescribed and supplied by the Department, a return for the cigarettes purchased.  [35 ILCS 105/10]

b)         A user who is liable to pay use tax directly to the Department only occasionally and not on a frequently recurring basis, and who is not required to file returns with the Department as a retailer under Section 9 of the Use Tax Act, or under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, or as a registrant with the Department under the Service Occupation Tax Act [35 ILCS 115] or the Service Use Tax Act [35 ILCS 110], need not register with the Department.  However, if such a user has a frequently recurring direct use tax liability to pay to the Department, such user is required to register with the Department on forms prescribed by the Department and to obtain and display a certificate of registration from the Department.  In that event, all of the provisions of Section 9 of the Act concerning the filing of regular monthly, quarterly or annual tax returns and all of the provisions of Section 2a of the "Retailers' Occupation Tax Act" concerning the requirements for registrants to post bond or other security with the Department, as the provisions of such sections now exist or may hereafter be amended, shall apply to such users.  [35 ILCS 105/10]

c)         In general, the provisions of Subpart E of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Regulations (86 Ill. Adm. Code 130) (including the authorization, under some circumstances, for quarterly tax returns and annual tax returns, but not the requirement of an annual information return) shall apply to returns of registered users under the Act.

d)         Also, registered users under the Act are subject to the provisions of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Regulations.

(Source:  Amended at 48 Ill. Reg. 6836, effective April 24, 2024)