Although the basic principle of sales tax is fairly straightforward (a tax applied to the sales of goods and services within a jurisdiction, e.g. a state of a city) in practice sales tax tends not to be quite that simple.  There are numerous jurisdictions for sales tax.  Within a given state, for example, different cities have their own sales tax rates.  And even though they are collectively referred to simply as “sales tax”, there are in fact several different and distinct taxes within that category.

It’s often helpful to think of use tax as a counterpart or mirror image of sales tax.  It picks up where sales tax drops off.  Use tax is owed on all items which are used within a state for which you paid less than that state’s sales tax.  The use tax owed is equal to the difference between the sale tax that was paid (if any) and your state’s sales tax rate (6.25% in Illinois).

In Illinois there are several tax acts which fall under the heading of “sales tax.”  Some of the main taxes include:

• Retailer’s Occupation Tax (ROT)
• Retailer’s Use Tax (RUT)
• Motor Fuel Tax
• Services Occupation Tax (SOT)
• Services Use Tax (SUT)

At Horowitz & Weinstein we have handled many sales tax and use tax legal cases and have a long history dealing with The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) and other regulatory agencies.  We have assisted clients with cases involving:

• Tax fraud
• General tax amnesties
• Sales tax audits
• Tax evasion
• Failure to file returns
• Affiliate sales tax
• Tax Audits
• IRS Income Tax Audits
• Illinois Sales Tax
• Use Tax
• IRS Income Tax Fraud

At Horowitz & Weinstein we have handled numerous sales tax and use tax legal cases and have a long history dealing with The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) and other regulatory agencies.  We have assisted clients with cases involving:

• Sales tax audits
• Tax evasion
• Affiliate sales tax
• General tax amnesties
• Tax fraud
• Failure to file returns

And other criminal and civil tax legal issue.  For more information or to find out how Horowitz & Weinstein can help with your tax concerns, please contact us.

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