This article shall be known as, and may be cited as, the "Locally
Imposed and Administered Tax Rights and Responsibility Procedures."
The provisions of this article shall apply to the City's procedures
in connection with all of the City's locally imposed and administered
taxes.
Certain words or terms herein shall have the meanings ascribed
to them as follows:
The Local Government Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act (50 ILCS
45/1 et seq.).
Each tax imposed by the City that is collected or administered
by the City, but does not include any taxes imposed upon real property
under the Property Tax Code or fees collected by the City other than
infrastructure maintenance fees.
The City Clerk, who is charged with the administration and
collection of the locally imposed and administered taxes, including
staff, employees or agents to the extent they are authorized by the
local tax administrator to act in the local tax administrator's stead.
The local tax administrator shall have the authority to implement
the terms of this article to give full effect thereto. The exercise
of such authority by the local tax administrator shall not be inconsistent
with this article and the Act.
Each audit notice, collection notice or other similar notice
or communication in connection with each of the City's locally imposed
and administered taxes.
Any ordinance adopted by the City that imposes any locally
imposed and administered tax.
Any person required to pay any locally imposed and administered
tax and generally includes the person upon whom the legal incidence
of such tax is placed and with respect to consumer taxes includes
the business or entity required to collect and pay the locally imposed
and administered tax to the City.
Unless otherwise provided, whenever notice is required to be
given, the notice is to be in writing and mailed not less than seven
calendar days prior to the day fixed for any applicable hearing, audit
or other scheduled act of the local tax administrator. The notice
shall be sent by the local tax administrator as follows:
Any notice, payment, remittance or other filing required to
be made to the City pursuant to any tax ordinance shall be considered
late unless it is (a) physically received by the City on or before
the due date, or (b) received in an envelope or other container displaying
a valid, readable U.S. Postmark dated on or before the due date, properly
addressed to the City, with adequate postage prepaid.
Any payment or remittance received for a tax period shall be
applied in the following order:
(A)
The City shall not refund or credit any taxes voluntarily paid without
written protest at the time of payment in the event that a locally
imposed and administered tax is declared invalidly enacted or unconstitutional
by a court of competent jurisdiction. However, a taxpayer shall not
be deemed to have paid the tax voluntarily if the taxpayer lacked
knowledge of the facts upon which to protest the taxes at the time
of payment or if the taxpayer paid the taxes under duress.
(B)
The statute of limitations on a claim for credit or refund shall
be four years after the end of the calendar year in which payment
in error was made. The City shall not grant a credit or refund of
locally imposed and administered taxes, interest, or penalties to
a person who has not paid the amounts directly to the City.
(C)
The procedure for claiming a credit or refund of locally imposed
and administered taxes, interest or penalties paid in error shall
be as follows:
(1)
The taxpayer shall submit to the local tax administrator, in writing,
a claim for credit or refund together with a statement specifying:
(a)
The name of the locally imposed and administered tax subject
to the claim;
(b)
The tax period for the locally imposed and administered tax
subject to the claim;
(c)
The date of the tax payment subject to the claim and the canceled
check or receipt for the payment;
(d)
The taxpayer's recalculation, accompanied by an amended or revised
tax return, in connection with the claim; and
(e)
A request for either a refund or a credit in connection with
the claim to be applied to the amount of tax, interest and penalties
overpaid, and, as applicable, related interest on the amount overpaid;
provided, however, that there shall be no refund and only a credit
given in the event the taxpayer owes any monies to the City.
(D)
In the event the local tax administrator grants, in whole or in part,
a claim for refund or credit, the amount of the grant for refund or
credit shall bear interest at the rate of 6% per annum, based on a
year of 365 days and the number of days elapsed, from the date of
the overpayment to the date of mailing of a refund check or the grant
of a credit.
Any request for proposed audit pursuant to any locally administered
tax shall comply with the notice requirements of this article.
(A)
(B)
Any audit shall be conducted during normal business hours; and if
the date and time selected by the local tax administrator is not agreeable
to the taxpayer, another date and time may be requested by the taxpayer
within 30 days after the originally designated audit and during normal
business hours.
(C)
The taxpayer may request an extension of time to have an audit conducted.
The audit shall be conducted not less than seven days nor more than
30 days from the date the notice is given, unless the taxpayer and
the local tax administrator agreed to some other convenient time.
In the event the taxpayer is unable to comply with the audit on the
date in question, the taxpayer may request another date within the
30 days, approved in writing, that is convenient to the taxpayer and
the local tax administrator.
(D)
Every taxpayer shall keep accurate books and records of the taxpayer's
business or activities, including original source documents and books
of entry denoting the transactions which had given rise or may have
given rise to any tax liability, exemption or deduction. All books
shall be kept in the English language and shall be subject to and
available for inspection by the City.
(E)
It is the duty and responsibility of every taxpayer to make available
its books and records for inspection by the City. If the taxpayer
or the City fails to provide the documents necessary for audit within
the time provided, the local tax administrator may issue a tax determination
and assessment based on the tax administrator's determination of the
best estimate of the taxpayer's tax liability.
(F)
If an audit determines there has been an overpayment of a locally
imposed and administered tax as a result of the audit, written notice
of the amount of overpayment shall be given to the taxpayer within
30 days of the City's determination of the amount of overpayment.
(A)
The local tax administrator shall send written notice to a taxpayer
upon the local tax administrator's issuance of a protestable notice
of tax due, a bill, a claim denial, or a notice of claim reduction
regarding any tax. The notice shall include the following information:
(B)
A taxpayer who receives written notice from the local tax administrator
of a determination of tax due or assessment may file with the local
tax administrator a written protest and petition for hearing, setting
forth the basis of the taxpayer's request for a hearing. The written
protest and petition for hearing must be filed with the local tax
administrator within 45 days of receipt of the written notice of the
tax determination and assessment.
(C)
If a timely written notice and petition for hearing is filed, the
local tax administrator shall fix the time and place for hearing and
shall give written notice to the taxpayer. The hearing shall be scheduled
for a date within 14 days of receipt of the written protest and petition
for hearing, unless the taxpayer requests a later date convenient
to all parties.
(D)
If a written protest and petition for hearing is not filed within
the forty-five-day period, the tax determination, audit or assessment
shall become a final bill due and owing without further notice.
(E)
Upon the showing of reasonable cause by the taxpayer and the full
payment of the contested tax liability along with interest accrued
as of the due date of the tax, the local tax administrator may reopen
or extend the time for filing a written protest and petition for hearing.
In no event shall the time for filing a written protest and petition
for hearing be reopened or extended for more than 90 days after the
expiration of the forty-five-day period.
(A)
Whenever a taxpayer or a tax collector has filed a timely written protest and petition for hearing under § 3.58 above, the local tax administrator shall conduct a hearing regarding any appeal.
(B)
No continuances shall be granted except in cases where a continuance
is absolutely necessary to protect the rights of the taxpayer. Lack
of preparation shall not be grounds for a continuance. Any continuance
granted shall not exceed 14 days except by agreement of all parties.
(C)
At the hearing, the local tax administrator shall preside and shall
hear testimony and accept any evidence relevant to the tax determination,
audit or assessment. The strict rules of evidence applicable to judicial
proceedings shall not apply.
(D)
At the conclusion of the hearing, the local tax administrator shall
make a written determination on the basis of the evidence presented
at the hearing. The taxpayer or tax collector shall be provided with
a copy of the written decision.
In the event a determination has been made that a tax is due
and owing, through audit, assessment or other bill sent, the tax must
be paid within the time frame otherwise indicated.
(A)
The City hereby provides for the amount of interest to be assessed
on a late payment, underpayment, or nonpayment of the tax, to be 1%
per month or part thereof that a payment is late.
(B)
If a tax return is not filed within the time and manner provided
by the controlling tax ordinance, a late filing penalty of 5% of the
amount of tax required to be shown as due on a return shall be imposed;
and a late payment penalty of 5% of the tax due shall be imposed.
If no return is filed within the time or manner provided by the controlling
tax ordinance and prior to the City issuing a notice of tax delinquency
or notice of tax liability, then a failure-to-file penalty shall be
assessed equal to 25% of the total tax due for the applicable reporting
period for which the return was required to be filed. A late filing
or payment penalty shall not apply if a failure-to-file penalty is
imposed by the controlling ordinance.
The local tax administrator shall have the authority to waive
or abate any late filing penalty, late payment penalty or failure
to file penalty if the local tax administrator shall determine reasonable
cause exists for delay or failure to make a filing.
The City may enter into an installment contract with the taxpayer
for the payment of taxes under the controlling tax ordinance. The
local tax administrator may not cancel any installment contract so
entered unless the taxpayer fails to pay any amount due and owing.
Upon written notice by the local tax administrator that the payment
is 30 days' delinquent, the taxpayer shall have 14 days to cure any
delinquency. If the taxpayer fails to cure the delinquency within
the fourteen-day period or fails to demonstrate good faith in restructuring
the installment contract with the local administrator, the installment
contract shall be canceled without further notice to the taxpayer.
The City, through the local tax administrator, shall review
all tax returns in a prompt and timely manner and inform taxpayers
of any amounts due and owing. The taxpayer shall have 45 days after
receiving notice of the reviewed tax returns to make any request for
refund or provide any tax still due and owing.
(A)
No determination of tax due and owing may be issued more than four
years after the end of the calendar year for which the return for
the applicable period was filed or for the calendar year in which
the return for the applicable period was due, whichever occurs later.
(B)
If any tax return is not filed or if, during any four-year period
for which a notice of tax determination or assessment may be issued
by the City, the tax paid was less than 75% of the tax due, the statute
of limitations shall be six years after the end of the calendar year
in which return for the applicable period was due or the end of the
calendar year in which the return for the applicable period was filed.
For any locally imposed and administered tax for which a taxpayer
has not received a written notice of an audit, investigation, or assessment
from the local tax administrator, a taxpayer is entitled to file an
application with the local tax administrator for a voluntary disclosure
of the tax due. A taxpayer filing a voluntary disclosure application
must agree to pay the amount of tax due, along with interest of 1%
per month or part thereof, for all periods prior to the filing of
the application but not more than four years before the date of filing
the application. A taxpayer filing a valid voluntary disclosure application
may not be liable for any additional tax, interest, or penalty for
any period before the date the application was filed. However, if
the taxpayer incorrectly determined and underpaid the amount of tax
due, the taxpayer is liable for the underpaid tax along with applicable
interest on the underpaid tax, unless the underpayment was the result
of fraud on the part of the taxpayer, in which case the application
shall be deemed invalid and void. The payment of tax and interest
must be made by no later than 90 days after the filing of the voluntary
disclosure application or the date agreed to by the local tax administrator.
However, any additional amounts owed as a result of an underpayment
of tax and interest previously paid under this section must be paid
within 90 days after a final determination and the exhaustion of all
appeals of the additional amount owed or the date agreed to by the
local tax administrator, whichever is longer.
Any locally administered tax ordinance shall be published via
normal or standard publishing requirements. The posting of a tax ordinance
on the internet shall satisfy the publication requirements. Copies
of all tax ordinances shall be made available to the public upon request
at the City Clerk's office.
The local tax administrator shall establish an internal review
procedure regarding any liens filed against any taxpayers for unpaid
taxes. Upon a determination by the local tax administrator that the
lien is valid, the lien shall remain in full force and effect. If
the lien is determined to be improper, the local tax administrator
shall:
This article shall be liberally construed and administered to
supplement all of the City's tax ordinances. To the extent that any
tax ordinance is in conflict with or inconsistent with this article,
this article shall be controlling.
