Illinois Sales Tax Fraud Crack Down

May 25, 2012 | Susan McLain

Illinois House Bill 5289 (HB5289) is pending final concurrence vote from the House before being sent to the Governor. HB 5289 adds to the existing penalties for sales tax fraud and creates “…a new offense, sales tax evasion, with tougher penalties for large-scale offenders.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, this legislation has come on the coat-tails of a 3-year investigation of gasoline stations and convenience stores that revealed “…more than 600 establishments may have willfully withheld sales taxes.” For Illinois, that means “…about 27 percent of the state’s 2,400 gas station operators.”

According to Senator Jeff Schoenberg, D-Evanston, “when business owners collect sales tax on purchases but then refuse to remit those amounts to the state, they steal from their customers as well as depriving all Illinois residents of tax dollars that could be used for pressing statewide priorities.”

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Avalara Author

Susan McLain

Avalara Author Susan McLain

Susan McLain began her career as a technical writer in technology industries such as satellite networking and medical devices. Her skills encompass technical and marketing writing, usability engineering, verification and validation testing and protocol writing, requirements development, business analysis, technical illustration/graphic design and marketing. She has owned her own business providing service to small to medium sized business and in other positions, she has been in project management, documentation and marketing. She is currently the content specialist for Avalara helping to “make sales tax less taxing.”