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| State Wants Sales Tax Money on Online Purchases |
(IRN) -- The state of Illinois wants residents to pay sales taxes on all of the gifts they buy. Online shoppers, this means you.
Illinoisans can often dodge sales taxes by shopping online, but the state is hoping to collect on those taxes next year by offering a sales tax amnesty.
A new law allows people who didn't pay sales tax on items bought online, through the mail or over the phone between June 20, 2004, and the end of 2010 to pay what they owe without penalty. The tax amnesty runs from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15, 2011.
Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Klemens says residents should be filing tax form ST-44 every year, but says some folks just don't know about the use tax, which is the tax due on items purchased out of state and brought into Illinois to be used. It is the same as the sales tax.
Klemens says the state is often made aware of non-compliance when other states audit online businesses. The state conducting the audit may find big ticket items that were shipped to an Illinois consumer, and then contacts Illinois' Department of Revenue. The department then checks to see if sales tax was paid through form ST-44. If tax wasn't paid, the department then pursues the buyer. Klemens says penalties are usually 20 percent of the purchase price plus interest. The department also works with the U.S. Customs Service to collect tax on items purchased overseas.
Klemens adds that online companies like Amazon should be collecting state taxes, but don't. He says that won’t change until action is taken at the federal level, leaving Illinois consumers responsible to pay.
A use tax also applies to medical supplies such as insulin or syringes purchased outside of Illinois, as well as cigarettes.
Illinois plans to offer a more detailed worksheet on state income tax return forms to get taxpayers to pay. The ST-44 form is available online and can be filed online.
www.tax.illinois.gov
(Illinois Radio Network) |
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