2005 Articles

The 25th Annual State & Local Taxation Conference By Alexander P. White December 2005 The 25th Annual State and Local Taxation Conference of the National Conference of State Tax Judges took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday, September 29 through Saturday, October 1, 2005.

93rd General Assembly 2003-04 legislation-Summary (Part II) By Mary Ann Connelly February 2005 Public Act No. Statute Affected Brief Description Effective Date P.A. 93-689 (HB 599)

The administrative process for protesting tax assessments and refund denials By Julie-April Montgomery May 2005 Many state and local tax bodies find that tax compliance is greater when audit activity is constant and strong.

Appellate Court affirms denial of motion to vacate tax deed By Karen Dimond June 2005 In a recent published opinion, the Appellate Court, Fourth District, held that (1) a trial court's order is final the day it is entered if the trial court does not request the submission of a written order; (2) a post-trial motion filed after a notice of appeal is filed does not deprive an appellate court of jurisdiction if the motion is not directed against the judgment; (3) a section 2-1401 motion was properly denied because it did not rely on any of the grounds for relief listed in section 22-45 of the Property Tax Code; and (4) section 22-45 of the Property Tax Code does not violate the constitutional equal-protection principles.

Attacking tax deed orders: Recent developments By Matthew A. Flamm December 2005 It is critical for a party seeking to contest a tax deed order to do so either before the order is entered or within 30 days thereafter.

Chair’s column By Louise Calvert June 2005 Being chair of the State and Local Taxation Section Council this year and a member of the Council for several years has been a humbling experience for me.

City of Chicago tax increases March 2005 The City of Chicago recently increased a number of its taxes.

Do I really get my money back? (The local tax credit/ refund issue) By Julie-April Montgomery April 2005 What if you mistakenly paid your Chicago tax money to the State of Illinois? Or you paid tax to Cook County on a transaction for which you qualified for an exclusion or exemption from tax?

The Illinois Department of Revenue Practitioner’s Meeting, September 30, 2005 November 2005 Q and As from the most recent meeting.

Illinois’ license fee increases under attack By Stanley R. Kaminski January 2005 On November 29, 2004, Judge Patrick McGann of the Circuit Court of Cook County (Chancery Division) struck down as unconstitutional the surcharge imposed on Employers' Workers Compensation Insurance Premiums by Public Act 93-0032 (the fiscal year 2004 budget implementation act). 215 ILCS 5/416.

Illinois Whistleblower Law Upheld in Scachitti, et al. v. UBS Financial Services, et al., 2005 Ill. LEXIS 949 (June 3, 2005) By Stanley R. Kaminski August 2005 In Scachitti v. UBS Financial Services ("UBS") and Scachitti v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Company ("Morgan"), the plaintiffs brought their lawsuits as (i) common law taxpayer derivative actions, (ii) private citizen actions on behalf of the State under 735 ILCS 5/20-104(b) and (ii) qui tam actions under the provisions of the Illinois Whistleblower Act ("Whistleblower Act"), 740 ILCS 175/1 et seq.

In re Application of the County Treasurer et al David Wright v. Glen Investments By Steven Kandelman January 2005 Petitioner, David Wright, was the owner of the home in which he resided. Petitioner's procrastination in paying his taxes caused his house to be sold three times at a tax sale and each time he redeemed it before the deadline.

Letter from the Chair: Welcome to the 2005-2006 State and Local Taxation Section July 2005 Welcome to another year of State and Local Taxation Section Council newsletters. My first order of business is to publicly thank Louise Calvert, our outgoing Chair, and last year's section council members, for their valuable contribution of time and effort, this past year.

Merisant Company v. Kankakee County Board of Review and Property Tax Appeal Board By Steven Kandelman January 2005 The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the PTAB's granting of the Kankakee County Board of Review's Motion to Dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

New Supreme Court Rule 790 et al. establishing minimum continuing legal education requirements By Timothy E. Moran October 2005 On September 29, 2005 the Illinois Supreme Court announced the adoption of new Supreme Court rules 790-798, which mandate minimum continuing legal education for attorneys licensed to practice in Illinois.

A note from the co-editor By Mary Ann Connelly August 2005 Best wishes to ISBA Managing Editor Katie Underwood and Shawn Johnson on their wedding this month. We wish you a future filled with happiness.

A note from the co-editor May 2005 Associate Editor Julie-April Montgomery wrote the first article in this edition of Tax Trends, entitled "The Administrative Process for Protesting Tax Assessments and Refund Denials

A note from the co-editor By Mary Ann Connelly April 2005 A message from Co-Editor Mary Ann Connelly.

A note from the co-editor By Mary Ann Connelly March 2005 This edition of Tax Trends features an article entitled "The Streamlined Sales Tax Amnesty: To Wait or Not to Wait, That is the Question" written by Associate Editor Stanley Kaminski.

A note from the co-editor By Mary Ann Connelly February 2005 This edition of Tax Trends features 2003-2004 State and Tax legislation summary, part two.

A note from the co-editor By Mary Ann Connelly January 2005 This edition of Tax Trends features three recent court decisions. The first case is a recent circuit court decision where the Illinois State Chamber of Commence challenged the surcharge imposed on Employers' Workers Compensation Insurance Premiums by Public Act 93-0032 as unconstitutional.

A note from the editor By Mary Ann Connelly December 2005 Happy Holidays! This edition of Tax Trends features an interesting summary by Associate Editor, Matthew A. Flamm, about recent cases that discuss the timing of contesting tax deed cases and the strict compliance of the statute pertaining to tax sale notices.

A note from the editor By Mary Ann Connelly October 2005 This edition of Tax Trends features an article by Timothy Moran, Section Council Member, which examines the Illinois Supreme Court Rule 790 that mandates continuing legal education for attorneys, licensed to practice law in Illinois.

A note from the editor By Mary Ann Connelly September 2005 This edition of Tax Trends features an article written by Julie-April Montgomery entitled "When Stepping Up to Pay Your Taxes Pays Off (Amnesty and Voluntary Disclosure Programs)."

The proposed amendments to the practice and procedure before the Property Tax Appeal Board June 2005 Property Tax Appeal Board notice of proposed amendments 1. Heading of the Part: Practice and Procedure for Appeals Before the Property Tax Appeal Board 2. Code Citation: 86 Ill. Adm. Code 1910 3. Section Numbers: Proposed Action: 1910.11 New Section 1910.70 Amended 1910.72 New Section 1910.80 Amended 4. Statutory Authority: 35 ILCS 200/ Art. 7 and 16-180 through 16-195 5. A Complete Description of the Subjects and Issues Involved:

Real estate tax exemption for a substance abuse facility By Alexander P. White April 2005 The Defendant, the Illinois Department of Revenue ("The Department"), appealed an order of the Circuit Court of Cook County, which had granted the Plaintiff, Hazelden Foundation ("Hazelden"), a charitable-use exemption for certain real property owned by Hazelden for the tax year 1998.

Recent court decisions By William Seitz July 2005 The appellate court reversed and remanded a summary judgment order by the circuit court in Du Page County.

Recent decisions in real estate tax cases May 2005 Certain property assessed as open space was included within tax increment financing redevelopment area.

State tax advisory: Recent significant changes in Indiana and Chicago tax law By Stanley R. Kaminski October 2005 INDIANA - From Sept. 15, 2005 until November 15, 2005, Taxpayers can take advantage of Indiana’s new Tax Amnesty.

The Streamlined Sales Tax amnesty: To wait or not to wait, that is the question By Stanley R. Kaminski March 2005 By the end of 2005, 10 or more states comprising 20 percent or more of the total population of the United States may be approved as fully compliant members of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement ("SSUTA").