Category Archives: Illinois

Illinois

2017 Illinois Business Income Tax Deadline Extended through Nov 15

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The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) recently extended the deadline for business taxes filed for the state of Illinois. The reasoning is that the new tax law has many businesses confused and struggling with its complexity. Since the state due date coincided with the federal due date, IDOR chose to extend the state deadline one more month, to allow these businesses to file their federal returns first, and then follow up with their state return.

The Department will approve requests for abatement of penalties for late filing of any Forms IL-1120, IL-1120-ST, IL-1065 and IL-1041 due to reasonable cause on a case-by-case basis, provided those returns are filed on or before November 15, 2018. Please note: Requests for abatement should be made after a notice has been sent and received by the taxpayer.

More here, including contact information for filing abatements: Illinois Business Income Tax Deadlines Extended – Press Releases & News Archive

Education, Illinois, IRS, Tips

City of Chicago Small Business Center on the Road Expo, Sept 8th

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The Small Business Center on the Road Expo series is back for 2018! The next expo will be at Truman College Saturday, September 8th from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The expos are free and open to the public.

Keynote Speaker will be Josh Deth, Chairman of the Party at Revolution Brewing in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. Revolution Brewing operates two facilities, an award-winning brewpub and a production brewery growing by leaps and bounds. After landing his first brewery job cleaning kegs at age 20, Josh spent three years at Goose Island Beer Company before launching Revolution Brewing in 2010.

You can also expect:
– FREE assistance from business consultants to begin the licensing process
Resources on Procurement, Financial, Insurance, Consumer information
Financial Advisers on hand to answer questions
– Learn how to perfect your Elevator Pitch
– FREE Tax Clinic: One-on-One counseling sessions provided by Center for Economic Progress (CEP)
– FREE Law Clinic: Legal advice and support provided by The Community Law Project
– FREE Networking Hour: Connect and exchange ideas with like-minded entrepreneurs provided by Chicago’s Office of the City Treasurer from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Source: City of Chicago :: City of Chicago’s Small Business Center on the Road

Illinois, QuickBooks Software, Tips

Important Changes to Illinois Business Tax Payment Forms On 1/1/19

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A quick note about something all Illinois businesses and tax preparers should be aware of — starting 1/1/19, IDOR is going to have all businesses make all tax payments via one type of voucher per entity.

So that means whether you are making:

1) quarterly tax “pre-payments”;

2) extension payments; or,

3) tax due payments;

they’ll all be submitted on one type of voucher for C-Corps (IL-1120-V), one type of voucher for S-Corps (IL-1120-ST-V), one type of voucher for Partnerships (IL-1065-V), etc.

It’s not a big deal in terms of execution — in fact, it makes that part a bit easier — but it’s still really important to know about the change.

It means that when accountants and their clients (or staff members) are referring to tax payments of any of those three kinds, we need to be especially clear about which type it is — since we can’t presume the other person will know what we’re talking about based solely on the form number. (It used to be IL-516-B for most pre-payments, IL-505 for extensions, and then form/entity-specific for tax payments made with the return, so one could just refer to the form number… and the other party would understand what type of payment was being made — and therefore how to log it accordingly).

Also, if clients or staff are going through client memos in QuickBooks or looking through files to figure out what they paid and when, it will be a little harder to determine, since we will no longer have the additional meta-data of the name of the form, in a sense helping us figure it out. Another reason to get better about making sure to enter accurate descriptions in the memo field in your accounting software.

More information here:

http://tax.illinois.gov/Publications/Bulletins/2018/FY-2018-29.pdf

Just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page! Or rather, the same tax form.

Source: Fiscal Year Bulletins – 2018

Illinois, Tips

Chicago Small Business Improvement Fund Application Deadline July 9th

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From the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce:

The application period is open for the Milwaukee/Fullerton TIF Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF), a City of Chicago grant program available to commercial and industrial businesses, intended to help small business owners renovate, expand or start-up businesses along commercial and industrial corridors. Small business owners or property owners that lease to businesses in the Fullerton/Milwaukee TIF district can receive reimbursement grants of up to $100,000 for commercial projects to cover the cost of eligible remodeling work. The application period is open 6/6 – 7/9/18 at 5 PM.

Education, Illinois, Tips

Starting a Food Business in Chicago

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Chicago folks who are interested in the licensing requirements needed when Starting a Food Business should consider attending the upcoming introductory course by The Hatchery, a small food business incubator.

Tickets are only $40 and the course is being held at the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago, 320 N Damen Ave. 1st Floor.

If you attend and find it valuable, please share in the comments below!

Illinois, Tips

Energy-Saving Solutions for Small Businesses

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Not sure how many of you are aware that a great program exists for small businesses in the Chicago area: Small Businesses Energy Assessments | ComEd.

I discovered this program from the back-end, as I have a couple of clients who participate as “trade allies” — small businesses request a free energy assessment and then ComEd pays for part of the contracting work to bring workplaces up-to-date to be more efficient in energy use. It’s a win-win-win for the small business needing the upgrades, the small business doing the contracting work, and the environment. The savings on energy costs alone make it worth the while, but the incentives certainly help with motivation.

So, just in case you weren’t already aware of the program, here it is. Sign up today for a free energy assessment, with no strings attached.

And as a reminder, I don’t accept payments for blog posts! This is a program I’ve seen many of my clients benefit from, and thought I should spread the word to others.

Education, Illinois, Tips

Free Financial/Tax/Legal Resources for Chicago-area Residents

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Recently I came across two sets of resources for Chicago-area residents that seem worth sharing.

The Center for Economic Progress is offering free tax preparation and assistance to individuals with incomes less than $30,000 and families with incomes less than $55,000. Complete site locations and hours are available as a downloadable pdf on their site.

The Circuit Court of Cook County has a free seminar series geared toward the elderly, though applicable and open to all. Upcoming topics include: powers of attorney, reverse mortgages, foreclosures, long-term care, funeral pre-planning, property tax savings, evictions, financial literacy, social security, bankruptcy, elder abuse and exploitation, and more.

Add to these the extensive list of workshops that the City of Chicago offers for small business owners, and I’d say we’ve got a pretty rich set of options for free financial, legal and tax assistance in our city of Big Shoulders.

Illinois, Tips

Illinois to Require E-filing of W-2 & 1099 Forms

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The State of Illinois has announced that all employers and third-parties (including payroll providers) are now required to electronically file Forms W-2 and 1099 with Illinois.

MyTax Illinois, the state’s online account filing and management program, may be used to submit Forms W-2, W-2c, W-2G, 1099-R, and 1099-MISC. If you don’t already have a MyTax Illinois account, you must create one. Using this method, you must enter the information on MyTax Illinois for each form, one-at-a-time.

Alternatively, forms may be filed electronically through the Illinois FIRE Electronic Transmittal Program.

All forms must be filed by January 31, 2018.

Failure to file electronically, without receiving approval from the Department for an electronic filing waiver, can result in a $5 penalty per form.

If you are unable to file electronically, you may request a waiver, Form IL-900-EW, Electronic Filing Waiver Request, by calling the Taxpayer Assistance Division at 1-800-732-8866 or 217-782-3336.

http://www.revenue.state.il.us/Publications/Pubs/PUB-110.pdf

Illinois, POS - Point of Sale

Cook County Sweetened Beverage Tax Likely to be Repealed

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A brief update — the Sweetened Beverage Tax ordinance for Cook County is likely to be repealed effective December 1st. Two commissioners who originally voted for it have changed their minds, and a newcomer to the Board supports repeal. This three-commissioner change would be veto-proof. More news soon.

(As a snarky aside, I don’t suppose they intend to reimburse all my small business clients who spent the time and effort to implement this tax — including some who paid thousands for add-on modules for their Point of Sale (POS) systems.)

Original blog post here — http://www.thedancingaccountant.com/?p=565

Sources:

Cook County soda tax to be repealed next week – Sun-Times

Cook County pop tax likely to be repealed next week as 3 more commissioners switch sides – Chicago Tribune

Illinois, Tips

IDES IL Unemployment “TaxNet” Switches to IDOR MyTaxIllinois

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Happy news! If you have ever gone through the tiring process of registering a new business with both the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois Department of Employment Security, then you know what this fabulous step toward modernization means. Starting September 11, IDES processes (registering, filing returns and paying taxes and fees) will all be available as part of the IDOR MyTaxIllinois website instead of the old IDES “TaxNet”.

The old IDES process was long and cumbersome, involving many steps, whereas some years ago IDOR simplified their processes using this excellent website. It allows you to see all your tax correspondence and account balances online, you receive confirmation that reports and payments have been received/processed, and you can access copies of tax letters and correspondence. (It’s especially excellent for accountant relationships with clients who may have challenges opening or losing mail.)

Soon, IDES will also offer these features on the MyTaxIllinois website:

  • Request refunds online
  • Submit tax appeals electronically
  • Request penalty/interest waivers
  • Set up a deferred payment plan
  • Submit Power of Attorney relationships
  • Report zero quarterly wages
  • View your rates

For those of you who have struggled with their system before, and for those who know how well the MyTaxIllinois system is organized by comparison — then you’re aware of what a treat this is. For the rest of you… trust me.

If you already have a MyTax Illinois account, starting in September 2017, you will have access to your unemployment insurance account to begin your third quarter processing. If you have any questions, please contact the IDES Employer Hotline at 1-800-247-4984.

Source: IDES – Unemployment_Taxes_and_Reporting