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| Public Act 093-0835 |
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AN ACT concerning taxes.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Income Tax Act is amended by | ||||
changing Section 917 as follows:
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(35 ILCS 5/917) (from Ch. 120, par. 9-917)
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Sec. 917. Confidentiality and information sharing.
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(a) Confidentiality.
Except as provided in this Section, | ||||
all information received by the Department
from returns filed | ||||
under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under
the | ||||
provisions of this Act, shall be confidential, except for | ||||
official purposes
within the Department or pursuant to official | ||||
procedures for collection
of any State tax or pursuant to an | ||||
investigation or audit by the Illinois
State Scholarship | ||||
Commission of a delinquent student loan or monetary award
or | ||||
enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or sanction
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imposed by this Act or by another statute imposing a State tax, | ||||
and any
person who divulges any such information in any manner, | ||||
except for such
purposes and pursuant to order of the Director | ||||
or in accordance with a proper
judicial order, shall be guilty | ||||
of a Class A misdemeanor. However, the
provisions of this | ||||
paragraph are not applicable to information furnished
to (i) | ||||
the Department of Public Aid, State's Attorneys, and the | ||||
Attorney General for child support enforcement purposes and | ||||
(ii) a licensed attorney representing the taxpayer where an | ||||
appeal or a protest
has been filed on behalf of the taxpayer. | ||||
If it is necessary to file information obtained pursuant to | ||||
this Act in a child support enforcement proceeding, the | ||||
information shall be filed under seal.
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(b) Public information. Nothing contained in this Act shall | ||||
prevent
the Director from publishing or making available to the | ||||
public the names
and addresses of persons filing returns under | ||||
this Act, or from publishing
or making available reasonable | ||
statistics concerning the operation of the
tax wherein the | ||
contents of returns are grouped into aggregates in such a
way | ||
that the information contained in any individual return shall | ||
not be
disclosed.
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(c) Governmental agencies. The Director may make available | ||
to the
Secretary of the Treasury of the United States or his | ||
delegate, or the
proper officer or his delegate of any other | ||
state imposing a tax upon or
measured by income, for | ||
exclusively official purposes, information received
by the | ||
Department in the administration of this Act, but such | ||
permission
shall be granted only if the United States or such | ||
other state, as the case
may be, grants the Department | ||
substantially similar privileges. The Director
may exchange | ||
information with the Illinois Department of Public Aid and the
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Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the | ||
Department of Public
Aid under the Department of Human Services | ||
Act) for
the purpose of verifying sources and amounts of income | ||
and for other purposes
directly connected with the | ||
administration of this Act and the Illinois
Public Aid Code. | ||
The Director may exchange information with the Director of
the | ||
Department of Employment Security for the purpose of verifying | ||
sources
and amounts of income and for other purposes directly | ||
connected with the
administration of this Act and Acts | ||
administered by the Department of
Employment
Security.
The | ||
Director may make available to the Illinois Industrial | ||
Commission
information regarding employers for the purpose of | ||
verifying the insurance
coverage required under the Workers' | ||
Compensation Act and Workers'
Occupational Diseases Act.
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The Director may make available to any State agency, | ||
including the
Illinois Supreme Court, which licenses persons to | ||
engage in any occupation,
information that a person licensed by | ||
such agency has failed to file
returns under this Act or pay | ||
the tax, penalty and interest shown therein,
or has failed to | ||
pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or interest due
under | ||
this Act.
The Director may make available to any State agency, | ||
including the Illinois
Supreme
Court, information regarding | ||
whether a bidder, contractor, or an affiliate of a
bidder or
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contractor has failed to file returns under this Act or pay the | ||
tax, penalty,
and interest
shown therein, or has failed to pay | ||
any final assessment of tax, penalty, or
interest due
under | ||
this Act, for the limited purpose of enforcing bidder and | ||
contractor
certifications.
For purposes of this Section, the | ||
term "affiliate" means any entity that (1)
directly,
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indirectly, or constructively controls another entity, (2) is | ||
directly,
indirectly, or
constructively controlled by another | ||
entity, or (3) is subject to the control
of
a common
entity. | ||
For purposes of this subsection (a), an entity controls another | ||
entity
if
it owns,
directly or individually, more than 10% of | ||
the voting securities of that
entity.
As used in
this | ||
subsection (a), the term "voting security" means a security | ||
that (1)
confers upon the
holder the right to vote for the | ||
election of members of the board of directors
or similar
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governing body of the business or (2) is convertible into, or | ||
entitles the
holder to receive
upon its exercise, a security | ||
that confers such a right to vote. A general
partnership
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interest is a voting security.
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The Director may make available to any State agency, | ||
including the
Illinois
Supreme Court, units of local | ||
government, and school districts, information
regarding
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whether a bidder or contractor is an affiliate of a person who | ||
is not
collecting
and
remitting Illinois Use taxes, for the | ||
limited purpose of enforcing bidder and
contractor
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certifications.
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The Director may also make available to the Secretary of | ||
State
information that a corporation which has been issued a | ||
certificate of
incorporation by the Secretary of State has | ||
failed to file returns under
this Act or pay the tax, penalty | ||
and interest shown therein, or has failed
to pay any final | ||
assessment of tax, penalty or interest due under this Act.
An | ||
assessment is final when all proceedings in court for
review of | ||
such assessment have terminated or the time for the taking
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thereof has expired without such proceedings being instituted. | ||
For
taxable years ending on or after December 31, 1987, the | ||
Director may make
available to the Director or principal | ||
officer of any Department of the
State of Illinois, information | ||
that a person employed by such Department
has failed to file | ||
returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty and
interest | ||
shown therein. For purposes of this paragraph, the word
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"Department" shall have the same meaning as provided in Section | ||
3 of the
State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971.
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(d) The Director shall make available for public
inspection | ||
in the Department's principal office and for publication, at | ||
cost,
administrative decisions issued on or after January
1, | ||
1995. These decisions are to be made available in a manner so | ||
that the
following
taxpayer information is not disclosed:
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(1) The names, addresses, and identification numbers | ||
of the taxpayer,
related entities, and employees.
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(2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade | ||
secrets
or other confidential information identified as | ||
such by the taxpayer, no later
than 30 days after receipt | ||
of an administrative decision, by such means as the
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Department shall provide by rule.
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The Director shall determine the
appropriate extent of the
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deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the taxpayer | ||
does not submit
deletions,
the Director shall make only the | ||
deletions specified in paragraph (1).
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The Director shall make available for public inspection and | ||
publication an
administrative decision within 180 days after | ||
the issuance of the
administrative
decision. The term | ||
"administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in
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Section 3-101 of Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure. | ||
Costs collected
under this Section shall be paid into the Tax | ||
Compliance and Administration
Fund.
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(e) Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the | ||
Director from
divulging
information to any person pursuant to a | ||
request or authorization made by the
taxpayer, by an authorized | ||
representative of the taxpayer, or, in the case of
information | ||
related to a joint return, by the spouse filing the joint | ||
return
with the taxpayer.
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(Source: P.A. 93-25, eff. 6-20-03.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||
becoming law.
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