Can a local government receive information on the sales tax receipts of businesses located within its taxing jurisdiction, and if so, how can they request this information?

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A specific taxpayer’s return information is confidential. You may, however, access sales tax data reported by types of businesses within certain Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes. This report is divided into 10 category groupings based on the type of business, such as “general merchandise,” “food,” or ""apparel"". The amount of sales tax collected in a specific incorporated municipality or the unincorporated area of a specific county is listed for each category grouping under the tax type column.

By law, all information received by the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) from sales tax returns is confidential. 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 retail business. The information provided 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 distributed from the Local Government Tax Fund, and, if applicable, any locally imposed retailers’ occupation tax or service occupation tax.

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 or county and IDOR that allows the municipality or county to request information about sales tax distributed to it by IDOR from taxpayers doing business within its taxing jurisdiction. The information exchanged is directly related to the municipality's or county'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 that IDOR administers.

Once the Reciprocal Agreement on Exchange of Information is in place, individuals authorized by the agreement can register for a confidential MyLocalTax account. Through that account, users can order an allocation remittance report at any time. This report provides the tax revenues received by the local government from each business within their jurisdiction over the period of time selected by the user.  

Requests for information should be sent to:

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

Email: rev.localtax@illinois.gov

Phone: 217 785-6518
Fax: 217 785-6527