[ Search ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
| [ Engrossed ] |
91_SB0548
LRB9104845PTpk
1 AN ACT in relation to the sharing of information between
2 governmental agencies involved in the collection of State
3 receivables.
4 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
5 represented in the General Assembly:
6 Section 5. The Illinois Income Tax Act is amended by
7 changing Section 917 as follows:
8 (35 ILCS 5/917) (from Ch. 120, par. 9-917)
9 Sec. 917. Confidentiality and information sharing.
10 (a) Confidentiality. Except as provided in this Section,
11 all information received by the Department from returns filed
12 under this Act, or from any investigation conducted under the
13 provisions of this Act, shall be confidential, except for
14 official purposes within the Department or pursuant to
15 official procedures for collection of any State tax or
16 pursuant to an investigation or audit by the Illinois State
17 Scholarship Commission of a delinquent student loan or
18 monetary award or enforcement of any civil or criminal
19 penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or by another statute
20 imposing a State tax, and any person who divulges any such
21 information in any manner, except for such purposes and
22 pursuant to order of the Director or in accordance with a
23 proper judicial order, shall be guilty of a Class A
24 misdemeanor. However, the provisions of this paragraph are
25 not applicable to information furnished to a licensed
26 attorney representing the taxpayer where an appeal or a
27 protest has been filed on behalf of the taxpayer.
28 (b) Public information. Nothing contained in this Act
29 shall prevent the Director from publishing or making
30 available to the public the names and addresses of persons
31 filing returns under this Act, or from publishing or making
-2- LRB9104845PTpk
1 available reasonable statistics concerning the operation of
2 the tax wherein the contents of returns are grouped into
3 aggregates in such a way that the information contained in
4 any individual return shall not be disclosed.
5 (c) Governmental agencies. The Director may make
6 available to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United
7 States or his delegate, or the proper officer or his delegate
8 of any other state imposing a tax upon or measured by income,
9 for exclusively official purposes, information received by
10 the Department in the administration of this Act, but such
11 permission shall be granted only if the United States or such
12 other state, as the case may be, grants the Department
13 substantially similar privileges. The Director may exchange
14 information with the Illinois Department of Public Aid and
15 the Department of Human Services (acting as successor to the
16 Department of Public Aid under the Department of Human
17 Services Act) for the purpose of verifying sources and
18 amounts of income and for other purposes directly connected
19 with the administration of this Act and the Illinois Public
20 Aid Code. The Director may exchange information with the
21 Director of the Department of Employment Security for the
22 purpose of verifying sources and amounts of income and for
23 other purposes directly connected with the administration of
24 this Act and Acts administered by the Department of
25 Employment Security. The Director may make available to the
26 Illinois Industrial Commission information regarding
27 employers for the purpose of verifying the insurance coverage
28 required under the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers'
29 Occupational Diseases Act.
30 The Director may make available to any State agency,
31 including the Illinois Supreme Court, which licenses persons
32 to engage in any occupation, information that a person
33 licensed by such agency has failed to file returns under this
34 Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest shown therein, or
-3- LRB9104845PTpk
1 has failed to pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or
2 interest due under this Act. The Director may also make
3 available to the Secretary of State information that a
4 corporation which has been issued a certificate of
5 incorporation by the Secretary of State has failed to file
6 returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest
7 shown therein, or has failed to pay any final assessment of
8 tax, penalty or interest due under this Act. An assessment is
9 final when all proceedings in court for review of such
10 assessment have terminated or the time for the taking thereof
11 has expired without such proceedings being instituted. For
12 taxable years ending on or after December 31, 1987, the
13 Director may make available to the Director or principal
14 officer of any Department of the State of Illinois,
15 information that a person employed by such Department has
16 failed to file returns under this Act or pay the tax, penalty
17 and interest shown therein. For purposes of this paragraph,
18 the word "Department" shall have the same meaning as provided
19 in Section 3 of the State Employees Group Insurance Act of
20 1971. In addition, the Director may make available to another
21 State agency information regarding a taxpayer's place of
22 employment, bank accounts, or other financial information
23 contained in the Department's records if the taxpayer owes a
24 debt to the State agency making the request for information.
25 The Director may also make such employment and financial
26 information on a taxpayer available to the Attorney General
27 when the Attorney General is seeking the recovery of any debt
28 due the State or any of its agencies from that taxpayer.
29 (d) The Director shall make available for public
30 inspection in the Department's principal office and for
31 publication, at cost, administrative decisions issued on or
32 after January 1, 1995. These decisions are to be made
33 available in a manner so that the following taxpayer
34 information is not disclosed:
-4- LRB9104845PTpk
1 (1) The names, addresses, and identification
2 numbers of the taxpayer, related entities, and employees.
3 (2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade
4 secrets or other confidential information identified as
5 such by the taxpayer, no later than 30 days after receipt
6 of an administrative decision, by such means as the
7 Department shall provide by rule.
8 The Director shall determine the appropriate extent of
9 the deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the
10 taxpayer does not submit deletions, the Director shall make
11 only the deletions specified in paragraph (1).
12 The Director shall make available for public inspection
13 and publication an administrative decision within 180 days
14 after the issuance of the administrative decision. The term
15 "administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in
16 Section 3-101 of Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure.
17 Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax
18 Compliance and Administration Fund.
19 (e) Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the
20 Director from divulging information to any person pursuant to
21 a request or authorization made by the taxpayer, by an
22 authorized representative of the taxpayer, or, in the case of
23 information related to a joint return, by the spouse filing
24 the joint return with the taxpayer.
25 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97; 90-491, eff. 1-1-98.)
26 Section 10. The Retailers' Occupation Tax Act is amended
27 by changing Section 11 as follows:
28 (35 ILCS 120/11) (from Ch. 120, par. 450)
29 Sec. 11. All information received by the Department from
30 returns filed under this Act, or from any investigation
31 conducted under this Act, shall be confidential, except for
32 official purposes, and any person who divulges any such
-5- LRB9104845PTpk
1 information in any manner, except in accordance with a proper
2 judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, shall be
3 guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
4 Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from
5 publishing or making available to the public the names and
6 addresses of persons filing returns under this Act, or
7 reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the tax by
8 grouping the contents of returns so the information in any
9 individual return is not disclosed.
10 Nothing in this Act prevents the Director of Revenue from
11 divulging to the United States Government or the government
12 of any other state, or any village that does not levy any
13 real property taxes for village operations and that receives
14 more than 60% of its general corporate revenue from taxes
15 under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service
16 Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, or
17 any officer or agency thereof, for exclusively official
18 purposes, information received by the Department in
19 administering this Act, provided that such other governmental
20 agency agrees to divulge requested tax information to the
21 Department.
22 The Department's furnishing of information derived from a
23 taxpayer's return or from an investigation conducted under
24 this Act to the surety on a taxpayer's bond that has been
25 furnished to the Department under this Act, either to provide
26 notice to such surety of its potential liability under the
27 bond or, in order to support the Department's demand for
28 payment from such surety under the bond, is an official
29 purpose within the meaning of this Section.
30 The furnishing upon request of information obtained by
31 the Department from returns filed under this Act or
32 investigations conducted under this Act to the Illinois
33 Liquor Control Commission for official use is deemed to be an
34 official purpose within the meaning of this Section.
-6- LRB9104845PTpk
1 Notice to a surety of potential liability shall not be
2 given unless the taxpayer has first been notified, not less
3 than 10 days prior thereto, of the Department's intent to so
4 notify the surety.
5 The furnishing upon request of the Auditor General, or
6 his authorized agents, for official use, of returns filed and
7 information related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an
8 official purpose within the meaning of this Section.
9 Where an appeal or a protest has been filed on behalf of
10 a taxpayer, the furnishing upon request of the attorney for
11 the taxpayer of returns filed by the taxpayer and information
12 related thereto under this Act is deemed to be an official
13 purpose within the meaning of this Section.
14 The furnishing of financial information to a home rule
15 unit that has imposed a tax similar to that imposed by this
16 Act pursuant to its home rule powers, or to any village that
17 does not levy any real property taxes for village operations
18 and that receives more than 60% of its general corporate
19 revenue from taxes under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax
20 Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers'
21 Occupation Tax Act, upon request of the Chief Executive
22 thereof, is an official purpose within the meaning of this
23 Section, provided the home rule unit or village that does
24 not levy any real property taxes for village operations and
25 that receives more than 60% of its general corporate revenue
26 from taxes under the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act,
27 the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers' Occupation
28 Tax Act agrees in writing to the requirements of this
29 Section.
30 For a village that does not levy any real property taxes
31 for village operations and that receives more than 60% of its
32 general corporate revenue from taxes under the Use Tax Act,
33 Service Use Tax Act, Service Occupation Tax Act, and
34 Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, the officers eligible to
-7- LRB9104845PTpk
1 receive information from the Department of Revenue under this
2 Section are the village manager and the chief financial
3 officer of the village.
4 Information so provided shall be subject to all
5 confidentiality provisions of this Section. The written
6 agreement shall provide for reciprocity, limitations on
7 access, disclosure, and procedures for requesting
8 information.
9 The Director may make available to any State agency,
10 including the Illinois Supreme Court, which licenses persons
11 to engage in any occupation, information that a person
12 licensed by such agency has failed to file returns under this
13 Act or pay the tax, penalty and interest shown therein, or
14 has failed to pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or
15 interest due under this Act. The Director may also make
16 available to the Secretary of State information that a
17 limited liability company, which has filed articles of
18 organization with the Secretary of State, or corporation
19 which has been issued a certificate of incorporation by the
20 Secretary of State has failed to file returns under this Act
21 or pay the tax, penalty and interest shown therein, or has
22 failed to pay any final assessment of tax, penalty or
23 interest due under this Act. An assessment is final when all
24 proceedings in court for review of such assessment have
25 terminated or the time for the taking thereof has expired
26 without such proceedings being instituted. In addition, the
27 Director may make available to another State agency
28 information regarding a taxpayer's place of employment, bank
29 accounts, or other financial information contained in the
30 Department's records if the taxpayer owes a debt to the State
31 agency making the request for information. The Director may
32 also make such employment and financial information on a
33 taxpayer available to the Attorney General when the Attorney
34 General is seeking the recovery of any debt due the State or
-8- LRB9104845PTpk
1 any of its agencies from that taxpayer.
2 The Director shall make available for public inspection
3 in the Department's principal office and for publication, at
4 cost, administrative decisions issued on or after January 1,
5 1995. These decisions are to be made available in a manner so
6 that the following taxpayer information is not disclosed:
7 (1) The names, addresses, and identification
8 numbers of the taxpayer, related entities, and employees.
9 (2) At the sole discretion of the Director, trade
10 secrets or other confidential information identified as
11 such by the taxpayer, no later than 30 days after receipt
12 of an administrative decision, by such means as the
13 Department shall provide by rule.
14 The Director shall determine the appropriate extent of
15 the deletions allowed in paragraph (2). In the event the
16 taxpayer does not submit deletions, the Director shall make
17 only the deletions specified in paragraph (1).
18 The Director shall make available for public inspection
19 and publication an administrative decision within 180 days
20 after the issuance of the administrative decision. The term
21 "administrative decision" has the same meaning as defined in
22 Section 3-101 of Article III of the Code of Civil Procedure.
23 Costs collected under this Section shall be paid into the Tax
24 Compliance and Administration Fund.
25 Nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the Director
26 from divulging information to any person pursuant to a
27 request or authorization made by the taxpayer or by an
28 authorized representative of the taxpayer.
29 (Source: P.A. 89-89, eff. 6-30-95; 90-491, eff. 1-1-98.)
30 Section 15. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
31 changing Section 1900 as follows:
32 (820 ILCS 405/1900) (from Ch. 48, par. 640)
-9- LRB9104845PTpk
1 Sec. 1900. Disclosure of information.
2 A. Except as provided in this Section, information
3 obtained from any individual or employing unit during the
4 administration of this Act shall:
5 1. be confidential,
6 2. not be published or open to public inspection,
7 3. not be used in any court in any pending action
8 or proceeding,
9 4. not be admissible in evidence in any action or
10 proceeding other than one arising out of this Act.
11 B. No finding, determination, decision, ruling or order
12 (including any finding of fact, statement or conclusion made
13 therein) issued pursuant to this Act shall be admissible or
14 used in evidence in any action other than one arising out of
15 this Act, nor shall it be binding or conclusive except as
16 provided in this Act, nor shall it constitute res judicata,
17 regardless of whether the actions were between the same or
18 related parties or involved the same facts.
19 C. Any officer or employee of this State, any officer or
20 employee of any entity authorized to obtain information
21 pursuant to this Section, and any agent of this State or of
22 such entity who, except with authority of the Director under
23 this Section, shall disclose information shall be guilty of a
24 Class B misdemeanor and shall be disqualified from holding
25 any appointment or employment by the State.
26 D. An individual or his duly authorized agent may be
27 supplied with information from records only to the extent
28 necessary for the proper presentation of his claim for
29 benefits or with his existing or prospective rights to
30 benefits. Discretion to disclose this information belongs
31 solely to the Director and is not subject to a release or
32 waiver by the individual.
33 E. An employing unit may be furnished with information,
34 only if deemed by the Director as necessary to enable it to
-10- LRB9104845PTpk
1 fully discharge its obligations or safeguard its rights under
2 the Act. Discretion to disclose this information belongs
3 solely to the Director and is not subject to a release or
4 waiver by the employing unit.
5 F. The Director may furnish any information that he may
6 deem proper to any public officer or public agency of this or
7 any other State or of the federal government dealing with:
8 1. the administration of relief,
9 2. public assistance,
10 3. unemployment compensation,
11 4. a system of public employment offices,
12 5. wages and hours of employment, or
13 6. a public works program.
14 The Director may make available to the Illinois
15 Industrial Commission information regarding employers for the
16 purpose of verifying the insurance coverage required under
17 the Workers' Compensation Act and Workers' Occupational
18 Diseases Act.
19 G. The Director may disclose information submitted by
20 the State or any of its political subdivisions, municipal
21 corporations, instrumentalities, or school or community
22 college districts, except for information which specifically
23 identifies an individual claimant.
24 H. The Director shall disclose only that information
25 required to be disclosed under Section 303 of the Social
26 Security Act, as amended, including:
27 1. any information required to be given the United
28 States Department of Labor under Section 303(a)(6); and
29 2. the making available upon request to any agency
30 of the United States charged with the administration of
31 public works or assistance through public employment, the
32 name, address, ordinary occupation and employment status
33 of each recipient of unemployment compensation, and a
34 statement of such recipient's right to further
-11- LRB9104845PTpk
1 compensation under such law as required by Section
2 303(a)(7); and
3 3. records to make available to the Railroad
4 Retirement Board as required by Section 303(c)(1); and
5 4. information that will assure reasonable
6 cooperation with every agency of the United States
7 charged with the administration of any unemployment
8 compensation law as required by Section 303(c)(2); and
9 5. information upon request and on a reimbursable
10 basis to the United States Department of Agriculture and
11 to any State food stamp agency concerning any information
12 required to be furnished by Section 303(d); and
13 6. any wage information upon request and on a
14 reimbursable basis to any State or local child support
15 enforcement agency required by Section 303(e); and
16 7. any information required under the income
17 eligibility and verification system as required by
18 Section 303(f); and
19 8. information that might be useful in locating an
20 absent parent or that parent's employer, establishing
21 paternity or establishing, modifying, or enforcing child
22 support orders for the purpose of a child support
23 enforcement program under Title IV of the Social Security
24 Act upon the request of and on a reimbursable basis to
25 the public agency administering the Federal Parent
26 Locator Service as required by Section 303(h); and
27 9. information, upon request, to representatives of
28 any federal, State or local governmental public housing
29 agency with respect to individuals who have signed the
30 appropriate consent form approved by the Secretary of
31 Housing and Urban Development and who are applying for or
32 participating in any housing assistance program
33 administered by the United States Department of Housing
34 and Urban Development as required by Section 303(i).
-12- LRB9104845PTpk
1 I. The Director, upon the request of a public agency of
2 Illinois, of the federal government or of any other state
3 charged with the investigation or enforcement of Section 10-5
4 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (or a similar federal law or
5 similar law of another State), may furnish the public agency
6 information regarding the individual specified in the request
7 as to:
8 1. the current or most recent home address of the
9 individual, and
10 2. the names and addresses of the individual's
11 employers.
12 J. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to interfere
13 with the disclosure of certain records as provided for in
14 Section 1706 or with the right to make available to the
15 Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of
16 the Treasury, or the Department of Revenue of the State of
17 Illinois, information obtained under this Act.
18 K. The Department shall make available to the Illinois
19 Student Assistance Commission, upon request, information in
20 the possession of the Department that may be necessary or
21 useful to the Commission in the collection of defaulted or
22 delinquent student loans which the Commission administers.
23 L. The Department shall make available to the State
24 Employees' Retirement System, the State Universities
25 Retirement System, and the Teachers' Retirement System of the
26 State of Illinois, upon request, information in the
27 possession of the Department that may be necessary or useful
28 to the System for the purpose of determining whether any
29 recipient of a disability benefit from the System is
30 gainfully employed.
31 M. This Section shall be applicable to the information
32 obtained in the administration of the State employment
33 service, except that the Director may publish or release
34 general labor market information and may furnish information
-13- LRB9104845PTpk
1 that he may deem proper to an individual, public officer or
2 public agency of this or any other State or the federal
3 government (in addition to those public officers or public
4 agencies specified in this Section) as he prescribes by Rule.
5 N. The Director may require such safeguards as he deems
6 proper to insure that information disclosed pursuant to this
7 Section is used only for the purposes set forth in this
8 Section.
9 O. (Blank).
10 P. Within 30 days after the effective date of this
11 amendatory Act of 1993 and annually thereafter, the
12 Department shall provide to the Department of Financial
13 Institutions a list of individuals or entities that, for the
14 most recently completed calendar year, report to the
15 Department as paying wages to workers. The lists shall be
16 deemed confidential and may not be disclosed to any other
17 person.
18 Q. The Director shall make available to an elected
19 federal official the name and address of an individual or
20 entity that is located within the jurisdiction from which the
21 official was elected and that, for the most recently
22 completed calendar year, has reported to the Department as
23 paying wages to workers, where the information will be used
24 in connection with the official duties of the official and
25 the official requests the information in writing, specifying
26 the purposes for which it will be used. For purposes of this
27 subsection, the use of information in connection with the
28 official duties of an official does not include use of the
29 information in connection with the solicitation of
30 contributions or expenditures, in money or in kind, to or on
31 behalf of a candidate for public or political office or a
32 political party or with respect to a public question, as
33 defined in Section 1-3 of the Election Code, or in connection
34 with any commercial solicitation. Any elected federal
-14- LRB9104845PTpk
1 official who, in submitting a request for information covered
2 by this subsection, knowingly makes a false statement or
3 fails to disclose a material fact, with the intent to obtain
4 the information for a purpose not authorized by this
5 subsection, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
6 R. The Director may provide to any State or local child
7 support agency, upon request and on a reimbursable basis,
8 information that might be useful in locating an absent parent
9 or that parent's employer, establishing paternity, or
10 establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support orders.
11 S. The Department shall make available to any State
12 agency, upon request that it may be necessary or useful to
13 the State agency in the collection of delinquent accounts
14 receivable due that agency, information limited to the names
15 and addresses of a debtor's employers. The Director shall
16 also make such employment information available to the
17 Attorney General when the Attorney General is seeking the
18 recovery of any debt due the State or any of its agencies.
19 (Source: P.A. 89-446, eff. 2-8-96; 89-493, eff. 1-1-97;
20 90-425, eff. 8-15-97; 90-488, eff. 8-17-97; 90-655, eff.
21 7-30-98.)
22 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
23 becoming law.