Illinois

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An Illinois appellate court held that a PepsiCo, Inc. subsidiary—Frito-Lay North America, Inc. (FLNA)—was not an 80/20 company excluded from PepsiCo’s unitary group. Illinois excludes 80/20 companies for the unitary group, where such companies have over 80% of their payroll and property from outside the United States. After a restructuring, PepsiCo created a single-member LLC…

On November 5, voters cast their ballots to determine who would fill a variety of federal, state, and local offices. Several states also considered tax related ballot initiatives. We describe some of the more significant ballot initiatives and their results.

Sales Tax

There were a few states with ballot initiatives that would exempt items from…

On March 22, 2024, the Appellate Court of Illinois issued a split decision in a case involving local fuel taxes transferred by a fuel distributor to affiliates that operated gas stations in Cook County, Illinois. 

Under Cook County’s local fuel tax ordinance, distributors must pay a 6 cent per gallon tax on fuel sold to…

The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the Illinois Tax Tribunal’s determination that aviation fuel sold to airlines and subsequently stored at O’Hare International Airport is not exempt from the Retailer’s Occupation Tax (ROT) because the fuel was not consumed solely outside of the state.

The taxpayer, an aviation fuel retailer, argued that its fuel was subject…

An Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a circuit court’s dismissal of a qui tam action filed against a United Kingdom-based tailoring shop. The court held that although the tailor’s failure to investigate its use tax collection obligations was “an ostrich-type situation,” the tailor nevertheless did not violate the Illinois False Claims Act.

 The Illinois False Claims…

The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) released a general information letter outlining the applicability of Illinois Retailers’ Occupation Tax (ROT) on computer software licenses and maintenance agreements.

The letter states that sales of “canned” computer software are taxable retail sales in Illinois and are considered to be tangible personal property regardless of the form in…

The Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal found that aviation fuel sold to airlines and subsequently stored at O’Hare International Airport was not exempt from Retailer’s Occupation Tax (ROT). The taxpayer collected the ROT on the sales, but later filed for refunds claiming these sales were exempt from the ROT under the expanded temporary storage exemption. Specifically…

The Illinois Court of Appeals held that an energy company’s book-out transactions, which do not involve the physical transfer of fuel, are taxable sales under the Cook County fuel tax ordinance because they involve the transfer of an ownership interest as to the fuel. The company enters into book-out transactions to settle forward contracts (i.e.…

On October 31, 2022, the Illinois Department of Revenue released new guidance providing clarity on the treatment of cryptocurrency. The Department’s guidance provides that Illinois conforms to the federal tax treatment of treating cryptocurrency as property. The new guidance also states that, for purposes of the applicability of Public Law 86-272 to an out-of-state company…

Approximately 34 states require market sourcing to source sales of other than tangible personal property. Many states adopted market-sourcing rules in recent years and are only now beginning to finalize regulations regarding their implementation. A number of states have also adopted market-sourcing regulations attempting to provide additional clarity through more detailed rules.

In this installment…