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But it's difficult to find language that doesn't cause uncertainty somewhere else.” All those communities and entities are making out like one-armed bandits. “My sense is this is a nice little program for tax lawyers, consultants, etc.,” says House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago. A Senate-passed bill would codify existing directives and case law established by the Illinois Department of Revenue, but House Democrats have pushed a bill creating a new seven-part test to determine where a retailer owes sales taxes. The lawsuits by the city and RTA disrupted ongoing talks to develop legislation that would better define what retailers can and cannot do to minimize their sales tax burden. Arnold Schwarzenegger soon signed a law prohibiting any future deals. Two local communities sued Fillmore, Calif., when MTS arranged for seven clients to locate sales offices there in return for an 85% rebate of the sales tax generated, according to reports. “This is what happens when you have a significant differential in tax rates.” “It's a niche,” says Tom Johnson, president of the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois. But it rebated $124.1 million, or more than 72%, under a sales tax incentive sharing program it established in 2000, according to an exhibit filed with RTA's suit. and Target Corp, working with MTS and Inspired.īetween 20, Kankakee saw a rapid increase in sales tax receipts, totaling $171.7 million. Those rebates would have been split with the retailers, including divisions of Sears Holdings Corp., AT&T Inc. Kankakee rebated $16.2 million to those firms in fiscal 2009, up from $8.5 million in 2004.
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LLC are at the center of many of these sales tax deals, according to lawsuits filed last week by the city of Chicago and the Regional Transportation Authority.Īccording to Chicago's suit, tax rebates from Channahon to MTS and Inspired Development reached $14.5 million in the fiscal year ended April 30, 2009, compared with $1.7 million in fiscal 2004.
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Rather than big-name accounting or law firms, entities such as Skokie-based MTS Consulting LLC, Kankakee-based Inspired Development LLC and Channahon-based Minority Development Co.