Confidentiality of Sales Tax

By law, all information received by the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) from sales tax returns is confidential. We cannot release information regarding individual taxpayer (i.e., retailer) reporting. However, Illinois law does allow a local government to receive certain confidential information, by request, provided the proper forms and agreements are completed by the local government or, in some instances, by the individual taxpayers themselves.

A municipality or county can obtain the most comprehensive information about individual taxpayers by use of a Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information. This is an agreement between the municipality and IDOR that allows the municipality to request the net revenue distributed to it from IDOR on taxpayers doing business within its taxing jurisdiction. The information exchanged is directly related to the municipality’s local share of tax received under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act, and, if applicable, any locally imposed retailers’ occupation tax or service occupation tax.

Effective January 1, 2015, Illinois law allows all municipalities in the state to enter into a reciprocal agreement with the Department to request confidential information on retail sales made within their taxing jurisdictions. Previously, the law generally allowed only those municipalities that had imposed a Home Rule Sales Tax or Non-Home Rule Sales Tax to enter into such an agreement. County governments are not eligible to enter into an agreement.

Effective June 30, 2016, Illinois law expanded eligibility to allow all counties in the state to enter into a reciprocal agreement with the Department to request confidential information on retail sales made within their taxing jurisdictions.  Previously, the law did not allow counties to enter into such an agreement.

Individual taxpayers (i.e., retailers) also can authorize IDOR to provide certain confidential sales tax information to a local government (i.e., a municipality or county) through an Authorization to Release Sales Tax Information to Local Governments (Form PTAX 1002-21, available by contacting the Local Tax Allocation Division). You can request this form using the contact information below. This form is signed by the owner or authorized officer of a business and authorizes IDOR to release to the local government information regarding the net revenue distributed to that local government from the taxpayer. 

Information requested for periods after the local government became eligible to receive confidential sales tax information under the Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information will require the local government to enter into a reciprocal agreement and request the information under the agreement.

• Effective January 1, 2018, municipalities are required to enter into a Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information in order to receive confidential information for any taxpayer.
• Effective July 1, 2019, counties are required to enter into a Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information in order to receive confidential information for any taxpayer.  

Individual taxpayers can give authorization to any local government to receive confidential information on a site owned by the taxpayer but that is located in another local government's jurisdiction.  This authorization allows the local government to receive confidential information about distributions received by the other local government for a period up to but no earlier than three years prior to the current allocation period. In order to use the PTAX-1002-21, the taxpayer listed on the authorization must be registered to make retail sales at a permanent location site and cannot be registered to make retail sales as a changing location site or temporary location site.

A local government (i.e., a municipality or county) can also request a statistical grouping report. This is a report listing five or more comparable businesses within a local government’s taxing jurisdiction that provides the aggregate total of the net revenue distributed to their local government. The net revenue is directly related to the local government’s share of tax received under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act, and, if applicable, any locally imposed retailers’ occupation tax or service occupation tax. The businesses must be comparable to make available reasonable statistics by grouping the contents of returns so that the information for any individual taxpayer is not disclosed. IDOR will review the list to determine if the businesses are comparable, and the aggregate total will not disclose the reporting from an individual taxpayer. If the report does not meet the criteria, IDOR cannot release the report.

An example of a statistical grouping report might be a request for a local government's top 10 sales tax contributors for the last calendar year, or perhaps the local government may need to request the top four or more sales tax contributors for the last twelve months in order to secure insurance.

What information do you need to provide in your request to IDOR for a statistical grouping report?

A request for a statistical grouping report must contain the following: 

• the taxpayer's business name and address; and
• the time period the report will cover. (Please note we can only provide information for a period up to but no earlier than three years prior to from the current allocation period.)

A request for a statistical grouping report can be made by:

• county governments; and
• municipal governments that were not eligible to receive confidential information under a Reciprocal Agreement for Exchange of Confidential Information prior to January 1, 2015 (for periods prior to January 1, 2015).

A quarterly financial report provides the net revenue distributed, by month, to a county government on a specific taxpayer or taxpayers. The net revenue is directly related to the county government’s local share of tax received under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act, and, if applicable, any locally imposed retailers’ occupation tax or service occupation tax. The individual taxpayer can indicate that the information to be sent to the local government be for a prior period up to but no earlier than three years from the current allocation period through a future period up to but no later than December 31, 2099.

County governments are eligible to receive quarterly financial reports.

The individual taxpayer must authorize IDOR in writing to release the individual taxpayer’s net revenue to the county government by completing Form PTAX 1002-21, Authorization to Release Sales Tax Information to Local Governments. You can request this form using the contact information below. 

The taxpayer listed on the authorization must be registered to make retail sales at a permanent location site. The taxpayer cannot be registered to make retail sales for a changing location site or temporary location site.

The reports are automatically generated during the following months:

• May for the January through March collection periods;
• August for the April through June collection periods;
• November for the July through September collection periods; and
• the following February for the October through December collection period.

Quarterly financial reports will no longer be generated once the ending time reported on Form PTAX-1002-21 has expired.

LOCAL TAX ALLOCATION DIVISION (3-500)
ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
101 WEST JEFFERSON STREET
SPRINGFIELD IL 62702

Phone: 217 785-6518
Fax: 217 785-6527
Email: rev.localtax@illinois.gov

Statutory Reference: 35 ILCS 120/11