Sales tax revenue is up from pre-pandemic levels, in part because Illinois is now forcing online retailers to charge local sales tax rates as high as 10.25%. No tax breaks this Cyber Monday.
Illinoisans pay one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation when local and state sales taxes are averaged. The average rate of 8.83% was up slightly from a year earlier.
Monthly sales tax collections in Illinois continued sharp declines compared to one year earlier amid strict COVID-19 restrictions. Neighboring states with more open economies fared better.
Will County became the first county to use new taxing authority under Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s capital plan, adding a new countywide gas tax of 4 cents per gallon atop state and local gas taxes.
Included in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s capital plan is increased taxing power for some county governments to create or raise countywide gas taxes. Will County could be the first to exercise that authority.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.