Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) | Courtesy Photo
Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) | Courtesy Photo
The Retailers Occupation Tax is changing after passage of House Bill 1579, which Sen. Don DeWitte (R-West Dundee) championed in the Senate. The Department of Revenue will have more say over whether or not delinquent taxpayers are allowed to register new businesses, starting Jan. 1, 2024.
“This new law will enhance the Department’s efforts to identify and collect outstanding tax liabilities," DeWitte said in a press release.
Originally sponsored by Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Machesney Park) in the House, House Bill 2579 will allow the Department of Revenue to “deny a certificate of registration to an applicant, or refuse to issue or renew a certificate of registration, permit, or license authorized to be issued by the Department of Revenue if certain owners, partners, officers, managers, or members of the applicant fail to file a return, on or before the due date prescribed for filing that return, that the person is required to file under any tax or fee Act administered by the Department of Revenue.”
Sosnowski filed the bill on Feb. 15, and it moved to the Senate on May 3, according to the legislature’s page on the bill. The bill was sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 15, and signed on July 28.
"It will also help to prevent taxpayers with a history of non-compliance from opening or participating in a new business, which may also result in non-compliance and tax delinquencies,” said DeWitte in a July 31 news release.
The Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act focuses on taxes that apply to sales and purchases at retail establishments. It focuses on the sale of tangible personal property by retailers, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
DeWitte explained in the July 31 press release that officials from the Department of Revenue brought the need for the legislation to light, saying that the existing law had loopholes that needed to be fixed to be useful to the people of Illinois.
DeWitte was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 2018. His legislative experience includes serving on the Appropriations II Committee and Committee of the Whole. DeWitte resides in St. Charles.
Alerts Sign-up