101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB2947

 

Introduced , by Rep. Michael J. Zalewski

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
35 ILCS 120/11  from Ch. 120, par. 450

    Amends the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act. Provides that, subject to certain restrictions, if the Department of Revenue may disclose confidential financial information to a municipality or county, then the Department of Revenue may also disclose that financial information to an independent third party who is authorized in writing by that municipality or county to receive the information. Effective immediately.


LRB101 08698 HLH 53783 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2947LRB101 08698 HLH 53783 b

1    AN ACT concerning revenue.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Retailers' Occupation Tax Act is amended by
5changing Section 11 as follows:
 
6    (35 ILCS 120/11)  (from Ch. 120, par. 450)
7    Sec. 11. All information received by the Department from
8returns filed under this Act, or from any investigation
9conducted under this Act, shall be confidential, except for
10official purposes, and any person, including an eligible third
11party, who divulges any such information in any manner, except
12in accordance with a proper judicial order or as otherwise
13provided by law including, but not limited to, this Section,
14shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor with a fine not to
15exceed $7,500.
16    Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from
17publishing or making available to the public the names and
18addresses of persons filing returns under this Act, or
19reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the tax by
20grouping the contents of returns so the information in any
21individual return is not disclosed.
22    Nothing in this Act prevents a municipality or county from
23aggregating the information provided to the municipality or

 

 

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1county by the Department under this Section and presenting that
2information to the public, as long as the information in any
3individual return is not disclosed.
4    Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from
5divulging to the United States Government or the government of
6any other state, or any officer or agency thereof, for
7exclusively official purposes, information received by the
8Department in administering this Act, provided that such other
9governmental agency agrees to divulge requested tax
10information to the Department.
11    The Department's furnishing of information derived from a
12taxpayer's return or from an investigation conducted under this
13Act to the surety on a taxpayer's bond that has been furnished
14to the Department under this Act, either to provide notice to
15such surety of its potential liability under the bond or, in
16order to support the Department's demand for payment from such
17surety under the bond, is an official purpose within the
18meaning of this Section.
19    The furnishing upon request of information obtained by the
20Department from returns filed under this Act or investigations
21conducted under this Act to the Illinois Liquor Control
22Commission for official use is deemed to be an official purpose
23within the meaning of this Section.
24    Notice to a surety of potential liability shall not be
25given unless the taxpayer has first been notified, not less
26than 10 days prior thereto, of the Department's intent to so

 

 

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1notify the surety.
2    The furnishing upon request of the Auditor General, or his
3authorized agents, for official use, of returns filed and
4information related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an
5official purpose within the meaning of this Section.
6    Where an appeal or a protest has been filed on behalf of a
7taxpayer, the furnishing upon request of the attorney for the
8taxpayer of returns filed by the taxpayer and information
9related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an official
10purpose within the meaning of this Section.
11    The furnishing of financial information to a municipality
12or county, upon request of the chief executive officer thereof,
13including the furnishing of financial information to an
14eligible third party as provided in this paragraph, is an
15official purpose within the meaning of this Section, provided
16the municipality, or county, and, if applicable, the eligible
17third party agree agrees in writing to the requirements of this
18Section. Information provided to municipalities and counties
19under this paragraph shall be limited to: (1) the business
20name; (2) the business address; (3) the standard classification
21number assigned to the business; (4) net revenue distributed to
22the requesting municipality or county that is directly related
23to the requesting municipality's or county's local share of the
24proceeds under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the
25Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax
26Act distributed from the Local Government Tax Fund, and, if

 

 

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1applicable, any locally imposed retailers' occupation tax or
2service occupation tax; and (5) a listing of all businesses
3within the requesting municipality or county by account
4identification number and address. Notwithstanding the first
5paragraph of this Section, the incidental or inadvertent
6disclosure of such information to an employee of a county or
7municipality, or to a public official representing that county
8or municipality, in the scope of his or her employment or
9representation is not a criminal offense under this Section. On
10and after July 1, 2015, the furnishing of financial information
11to municipalities and counties under this paragraph may be by
12electronic means. If the Department may furnish financial
13information to a municipality or county under this paragraph,
14then the chief executive officer of the municipality or county
15may in writing authorize the Department to disclose that
16information to eligible third parties, including, but not
17limited to, consultants, attorneys, accountants, auditors, and
18financial advisors. The furnishing of financial information to
19an eligible third party is an official purpose within the
20meaning of this Section, provided the third party agrees in
21writing to the requirements of this Section and meets the
22criteria set forth in this paragraph. To be eligible to receive
23information from the Department, the third party (1) must enter
24into a confidentiality agreement with the Department prior to
25receiving the financial information, (2) must have an existing
26contract with the municipality or county at the time the third

 

 

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1party enters into the confidentiality agreement with the
2Department, and (3) must abide by the same conditions as the
3municipality or county with respect to the furnishing of
4financial information. The third party may use the financial
5information only for the purpose of providing services to the
6municipality as specified in the contract with the municipality
7and may not use the information for any other purpose,
8including verifying the accuracy of amounts indicated on
9returns submitted to the Department by a taxpayer; however, the
10third party may verify the accuracy of amounts remitted to the
11municipality, except as otherwise prohibited by law.
12Electronic data submitted to third parties under this paragraph
13must be encrypted and must be accessible only to authorized
14users with secure passwords. Notwithstanding the first
15paragraph of this Section, disclosure of information under the
16requirements of this paragraph is not a criminal offense under
17this Section.
18    Information so provided shall be subject to all
19confidentiality provisions of this Section. The written
20agreement shall provide for reciprocity, limitations on
21access, disclosure, and procedures for requesting information.
22    The Department may make available to the Board of Trustees
23of any Metro East Mass Transit District information contained
24on transaction reporting returns required to be filed under
25Section 3 of this Act that report sales made within the
26boundary of the taxing authority of that Metro East Mass

 

 

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1Transit District, as provided in Section 5.01 of the Local Mass
2Transit District Act. The disclosure shall be made pursuant to
3a written agreement between the Department and the Board of
4Trustees of a Metro East Mass Transit District, which is an
5official purpose within the meaning of this Section. The
6written agreement between the Department and the Board of
7Trustees of a Metro East Mass Transit District shall provide
8for reciprocity, limitations on access, disclosure, and
9procedures for requesting information. Information so provided
10shall be subject to all confidentiality provisions of this
11Section.
12    The Director may make available to any State agency,
13including the Illinois Supreme Court, which licenses persons to
14engage in any occupation, information that a person licensed by
15such agency has failed to file returns under this Act or pay
16the tax, penalty and interest shown therein, or has failed to
17pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or interest due under
18this Act. The Director may make available to any State agency,
19including the Illinois Supreme Court, information regarding
20whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a bidder or
21contractor has failed to collect and remit Illinois Use tax on
22sales into Illinois, or any tax under this Act or pay the tax,
23penalty, and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay any
24final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest due under this
25Act, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor
26certifications. The Director may make available to units of

 

 

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1local government and school districts that require bidder and
2contractor certifications, as set forth in Sections 50-11 and
350-12 of the Illinois Procurement Code, information regarding
4whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a bidder or
5contractor has failed to collect and remit Illinois Use tax on
6sales into Illinois, file returns under this Act, or pay the
7tax, penalty, and interest shown therein, or has failed to pay
8any final assessment of tax, penalty, or interest due under
9this Act, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and
10contractor certifications. For purposes of this Section, the
11term "affiliate" means any entity that (1) directly,
12indirectly, or constructively controls another entity, (2) is
13directly, indirectly, or constructively controlled by another
14entity, or (3) is subject to the control of a common entity.
15For purposes of this Section, an entity controls another entity
16if it owns, directly or individually, more than 10% of the
17voting securities of that entity. As used in this Section, the
18term "voting security" means a security that (1) confers upon
19the holder the right to vote for the election of members of the
20board of directors or similar governing body of the business or
21(2) is convertible into, or entitles the holder to receive upon
22its exercise, a security that confers such a right to vote. A
23general partnership interest is a voting security.
24    The Director may make available to any State agency,
25including the Illinois Supreme Court, units of local
26government, and school districts, information regarding

 

 

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1whether a bidder or contractor is an affiliate of a person who
2is not collecting and remitting Illinois Use taxes for the
3limited purpose of enforcing bidder and contractor
4certifications.
5    The Director may also make available to the Secretary of
6State information that a limited liability company, which has
7filed articles of organization with the Secretary of State, or
8corporation which has been issued a certificate of
9incorporation by the Secretary of State has failed to file
10returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest
11shown therein, or has failed to pay any final assessment of
12tax, penalty or interest due under this Act. An assessment is
13final when all proceedings in court for review of such
14assessment have terminated or the time for the taking thereof
15has expired without such proceedings being instituted.
16    The Director shall make available for public inspection in
17the Department's principal office and for publication, at cost,
18administrative decisions issued on or after January 1, 1995.
19These decisions are to be made available in a manner so that
20the following taxpayer information is not disclosed:
21        (1) The names, addresses, and identification numbers
22    of the taxpayer, related entities, and employees.
23        (2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade
24    secrets or other confidential information identified as
25    such by the taxpayer, no later than 30 days after receipt
26    of an administrative decision, by such means as the

 

 

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1    Department shall provide by rule.
2    The Director shall determine the appropriate extent of the
3deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the taxpayer
4does not submit deletions, the Director shall make only the
5deletions specified in paragraph (1).
6    The Director shall make available for public inspection and
7publication an administrative decision within 180 days after
8the issuance of the administrative decision. The term
9"administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in
10Section 3-101 of Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure.
11Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax
12Compliance and Administration Fund.
13    Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the Director
14from divulging information to any person pursuant to a request
15or authorization made by the taxpayer or by an authorized
16representative of the taxpayer.
17(Source: P.A. 98-1058, eff. 1-1-15; 99-517, eff. 6-30-16.)
 
18    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
19becoming law.