Municipal Motor Fuel Tax (MMFT)

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• 65 ILCS 5/8-11-2.3
  

The Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law allows municipalities located in Cook County (either wholly or in part) to impose a Municipal Motor Fuel Tax beginning July 1, 2020. The tax may be imposed by both home rule and non-home rule municipalities on sales of motor fuel at retail within the municipality for the operation of motor vehicles upon public highways or for the operation of recreational watercraft upon waterways. If imposed, the tax must be imposed municipality-wide and cannot be imposed in only a portion of the municipality. The Municipal Motor Fuel Tax does not apply to wholesale sales of motor fuel for resale. To be subject to the tax, the sales must be for the purchaser's use or consumption and not for the purpose of resale.

Only those municipalities that have imposed the tax authorized under the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law by local ordinance or resolution receive distributions of MMFT.

No. Voter approval is not required to implement this tax.

The corporate authorities of the municipality must adopt an ordinance or resolution to impose, discontinue, or change the rate of a Municipal Motor Fuel Tax.  Once an ordinance or resolution has been adopted, the municipality must file a certified copy of the ordinance with the Illinois Department of Revenue's (IDOR) Local Tax Allocation Division (LTAD).

The ordinance must be filed with LTAD on or before April 1 for the imposition, discontinuation, or tax rate change to take effect July 1, or on or before October 1 for the imposition, discontinuation, or tax rate change to take effect January 1 of the following year.

A municipality in Cook County can impose the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax at a rate not to exceed three cents ($0.03) per gallon. The tax must be imposed in one cent ($.01) increments and cannot be imposed at the rate of any fraction of a cent.

IDOR is responsible for administering MMFT.

When will we receive the first MMFT disbursement?

For taxes imposed effective January 1, the first disbursement will be made to the municipality during the following April.  For taxes imposed effective July 1, the first disbursement will be made to the municipality during the following October.

If you currently impose a motor fuel tax under your general home rule authority, the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax authorized to be imposed under the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law does not affect that tax. The Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law creates new explicit statutory authority for any municipality in Cook County to impose the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax, which IDOR will administer. If you decide to impose a Municipal Motor Fuel Tax under the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law, you may retain or repeal any existing motor fuel tax you currently impose under your general home rule authority. IDOR, however, does not have jurisdiction over, or administrative responsibility for, any motor fuel tax imposed under your general home rule authority.

An administrative fee is retained by the state treasurer to cover the costs we incur administering taxes imposed by municipalities.

Providers are allowed to take a discount for timely filing and payment of these taxes. Any allowable discount that is taken is reflected in the local government distributions that are made.

Local governments that impose MMFT may enter into a Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information with IDOR.  This agreement allows designated individuals within the municipality to receive specific financial information.  Additional information regarding the Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information can be found here. 

You may contact LTAD through your MyLocalTax account or by using the contact information below.

217 785-6518
217 785-6527 FAX

EMAIL: rev.localtax@illinois.gov