Written by Senate Democratic Caucus Staff Friday, 25 May 2012 10:07
If you drive a vehicle, you pull into a gas station every few days and watch the numbers roll up in the sale price window of the pump as the gallons slowly roll up while you put gas in your tank. A portion of the price of gas you buy is state and local sales tax which – as a consumer and taxpayer – you would assume is going to those taxing bodies.
But all of it isn’t. According to a state audit, 27 percent of gas-station owners collected those taxes from you but did not report and return those sales to the state. Today, sales tax evasion is difficult to prosecute and has only moderate consequences. When gas station under-report their sales, Illinois is deprived of needed millions of dollars in revenue it is owed.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Jeff Schoenberg is sponsoring a measure promoted by Attorney General Lisa Madigan that would address that situation and bring some aid to our state’s financial situation. Amendment 2 to House Bill 5289 proposes a new offense of Sales Tax Evasion to prosecute serious offenders who evade paying Illinois sales tax. Designed to pursue those who knowingly and willfully take action to conceal, misrepresent, falsify or manipulate sales-tax returns or practices that under-report and reduce their tax revenue collections documents or payments.
Read more: Schoenberg sales-tax fraud measure would recover millions, prosecute offenders




Ten of Illinois’ twelve metropolitan regions saw declines in their unemployment rates in April, a recently released report by the Illinois Department of Employment Security found. Compared to April 2011, several regions made significant strides in lowering unemployment figures, with Rockford’s unemployment decline leading the pack, falling 1.4% since April of last year.