70 tax, fee hikes in 15 years. $110B from Illinois taxpayers. More coming?

Illinois leaders keep using tax hikes as a budget quick-fix, but the state’s fiscal troubles – and the taxpayer burden – persist. Here are the 70 tax and fee hikes state leaders have imposed during the past 15 years.

Seventy tax and fee hikes in 15 years haven’t stopped Illinois’ financial dysfunction – they’ve enabled it.

After at least 70 tax and fee increases since 2011, Illinoisans last year paid $17.3 billion more. Since 2010 all those increases in the state’s tax burden has cost Illinois taxpayers more than $110 billion in additional taxes paid.

The result of all that new money?

Illinois has the nation’s lowest emergency reserves. Its government pension crisis has worsened, with $143.7 billion in unfunded liabilities and four of the country’s worst-funded state-run systems. And forecasts show a potential $1.2 billion budget shortfall in 2026.

This isn’t because of a lack of revenue, something Gov. J.B. Pritzker has even admitted. Illinois’ core budget issue is chronic overspending, which consistently outpaces economic growth and shows no signs of slowing during the next five years.

While tax hikes haven’t saved state finances as promised, their proponents keep pushing them: a progressive income tax, higher gas and liquor taxes, expanding sales taxes to services and new levies on everything from Netflix to soda to storage units. The Chicago Teachers Union and its allies recently proposed a $7.3 billion tax plan for 2026, including new taxes on digital ads and capital gains.

The result of too many tax hikes and too few results?

Illinois’ combined state and local tax burden is the seventh-highest in the nation in one analysis and No. 1 in another, voter trust is eroding and residents and businesses are leaving for lower-cost states. Over 420,000 residents have left since 2020. New polling found 54% of Illinois voters said high taxes were the state’s top issue, and nearly half said they’d consider moving.

Before the General Assembly’s 2026 budget deadline concludes and lawmakers float new tax ideas, here’s a look at Illinois’ hikes since 2011.

2011: The ‘temporary’ income tax hike

To address a budget shortfall and billions in unpaid bills, Illinois lawmakers passed a “temporary” income tax hike, which ultimately became permanent in 2017. The personal income tax rate jumped from 3% to 4.95% and the corporate rate from 7.3% to 9.5%. Although the hike brought in $31.6 billion, rising pension debt, more unpaid bills, substantial GDP losses and five credit downgrades followed.

2012 – 2013: Sin tax spree

Lawmakers enacted Senate Bill 2194 to generate $350 million per year and address a $2.7 billion shortfall in the Medicaid budget. The bill raised the cigarette tax by $1 per pack and doubled taxes on other tobacco products. Following the hike, cigarette smuggling rates skyrocketed from 1.1% to 20.9%, revenue gains fell short of projections and the state’s Medicaid program continued facing uncertainty. In 2013, lawmakers introduced a new $3 fee for live adult entertainment, bringing in $406 million.

2014 – 2016: Gimmicks and gridlock

With the 2011 income tax hike scheduled to expire in 2015, Illinois leaned on other short-term gimmicks – fund sweeps and interfund borrowing – to cover rising expenses with less voter resistance. In one year, fund sweeps boosted spending by $528 million, while revenues fell by $1.7 billion. Even without an approved budget during a two-year impasse, from fiscal year 2015 to 2017, Illinois kept spending, tripling its bill backlog to $14.17 billion by the end of 2017.

2017: Largest permanent hike in state history

State leaders passed a $5 billion income tax hike, raising the personal rate to 4.95% and the corporate rate to 9.5% – the largest permanent increase in state history. New limitations on certain tax credits and decoupling from federal corporate tax rules further increased the burden on residents and businesses. Despite these hikes, Illinois failed to balance its budget for two more years and racked up $16 billion in unpaid bills.

2019: Gas tax doubled

To fund Pritzker’s $45 billion “Rebuild Illinois” plan, lawmakers doubled the gas tax from $0.19 to $0.38 per gallon, increased taxes on cigarettes and diesel fuel, and indexed the gas tax to inflation, which guaranteed automatic annual hikes on which lawmakers would not be required to vote. By July 2025, Illinoisans will pay $0.48 per gallon, likely remaining the second-highest in the nation. The quality of the state’s highways still rank behind Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.

2020: Voters say ‘no,’ hikes continue

Years of mismanagement and broken promises drove voters to reject Pritzker’s progressive income tax proposal in 2020. Despite this taxpayer win, other tax and fee hikes tied to the Rebuild Illinois funding plan continued to take effect. These included higher vehicle registration fees, a new statewide parking garage tax ranging from 6% to 9% and steeper taxes on online shopping. Lawmakers also raised several gambling taxes and introduced new levies on recreational marijuana – the nation’s second-highest rates.

2021: Corporate tax crunch

Following the “Fair Tax” defeat, lawmakers turned to hidden, complex tax changes to increase revenue without triggering significant voter backlash. They enacted $665 million in corporate tax increases, including halting the phaseout of the franchise tax, capping net operating loss deductions and effectively double-taxing Illinois companies with global operations. Industry organizations, including the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Manufacturers Association and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, opposed these hikes.

2022: Short-term relief amid windfall revenue

An influx of federal aid temporarily boosted state revenues, enabling some short-lived tax relief, including a one-year pause on the state’s grocery tax and a six-month delay in the automatic fuel tax increase. Instead of pursuing long-term reforms, the state used its revenue boon to increase spending.

2023 – 2025: Bigger budgets, more taxes

General funds spending rose by $7 billion between 2023 and 2025, reaching  $53 billion. During that time, at least 17 tax and fee hikes took effect. These included extending the cap on loss deductions, limiting the retailers’ tax discount and increasing video gaming taxes by 1%. Illinois also implemented a progressive tax on sports betting operators, levying up to a 40% rate.

Conclusion

Since 2011, Illinois has repeatedly raised taxes, often described as necessary, temporary or unavoidable. Rather than solving the state’s fiscal problems, they’ve fueled government spending, eroded voter trust and sent some Illinoisans packing.

When voters’ rejected Pritzker’s “Fair Tax” amendment in 2020, lawmakers shifted to quieter increases. But as those avenues also run dry, politically riskier ideas, such as income tax hikes, may resurface.

Illinois needs structural reform, not more taxes. Until lawmakers get serious about fixing government pensions and controlling state spending, new taxes won’t fix what’s broken.