Taxes and Fees

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Income Tax Delay Could Boost Illinois’ Bill Backlog

Like most states that levy income taxes, Illinois has followed the federal government in extending the deadline for filing and paying income taxes due for 2019 by three months. The extension—from April 15 to July 15—is intended to provide relief to individuals and businesses hit by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is also expected to further strain Illinois’ ability to pay…

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Individual Income Tax Structures in Selected States

This blog post presents information about the different types of individual income taxes imposed by state governments in the United States. In 2020 forty-one states levied individual income taxes. States currently use flat rate or graduated rate models for their individual income tax rate structures. Three states use a variation of the graduated income tax structure, employing “recapture” rates…

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Graduated Income Tax Proposal Part II: A Guide to the Illinois Plan

As Illinois voters head to the polls for next week’s Presidential primary, this blog post looks at another major choice that will be on the general election ballot in November: whether to replace the State’s flat-rate income tax with a graduated rate structure. The post reviews the proposed new tax rates and examines who will pay more under the new plan and how much revenue it is expected to…

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Governor’s FY2021 Budget Relies on Uncertain Graduated Income Tax Revenues

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s second budget proposal avoids many of the pitfalls of his initial budget recommendation. The proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2020 makes the full pension contribution required by State law and does not depend on one-time revenues that will not be available in future years. Instead, the FY2021 budget relies on revenue that will only…

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Selected Consumer Taxes in the City of Chicago - 2020

Click here to read the issue brief. SUMMARY This annual report lists and describes selected consumer taxes within the City of Chicago. For ease of use by non-specialists, the taxes in this report are grouped under the following categories: sales taxes, tobacco and nicotine-related taxes, beverage-related taxes, utility-related taxes, accommodations-related taxes, transportation-related taxes…

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Report of the Task Force on the Reform of the Cook County Property Tax Appeals Process

Click here to read the report. 

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Report of the Task Force on the Reform of the Cook County Property Tax Appeals Process II

Click here to read the report. 

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How Will Illinois Spend Cannabis Revenues?

In December the Civic Federation explored how Illinois, its local governments and other states tax recreational cannabis. In this post we will look at how those cannabis tax revenues will be spent by the State of Illinois and compare those priorities to other states. The Illinois Department of Revenue projects the State will collect $57 million in FY2020 from cannabis taxes and licensing fees…

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2017 Effective Property Tax Rates in the Collar Counties

The Civic Federation recently released its annual Effective Property Tax Rates report. The report highlights that in 2017 property tax burdens for many communities in the Chicago region declined from the previous year. While analysis of the report often focuses on the 12 Cook County municipalities included in the study, this blog will examine the selected communities in the collar counties. An…

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Graduated Income Tax Proposal Part I: Why Does Illinois Have a Flat Income Tax?

More than 50 years after Illinois began taxing residents’ income, voters in 2020 will decide whether the structure of the income tax should undergo a major change. The issue is highly controversial, and the decision will have a long-lasting impact on the State’s finances. Since Illinois’ income tax was adopted in 1969, the State has had a flat income tax. Although tax rates have varied over the…