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92_HB1273enr
HB1273 Enrolled LRB9203256SMdv
1 AN ACT in relation to taxes.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Telecommunications Excise Tax Act is
5 amended by changing Section 2 as follows:
6 (35 ILCS 630/2) (from Ch. 120, par. 2002)
7 Sec. 2. As used in this Article, unless the context
8 clearly requires otherwise:
9 (a) "Gross charge" means the amount paid for the act or
10 privilege of originating or receiving telecommunications in
11 this State and for all services and equipment provided in
12 connection therewith by a retailer, valued in money whether
13 paid in money or otherwise, including cash, credits, services
14 and property of every kind or nature, and shall be determined
15 without any deduction on account of the cost of such
16 telecommunications, the cost of materials used, labor or
17 service costs or any other expense whatsoever. In case
18 credit is extended, the amount thereof shall be included only
19 as and when paid. "Gross charges" for private line service
20 shall include charges imposed at each channel point within
21 this State, charges for the channel mileage between each
22 channel point within this State, and charges for that portion
23 of the interstate inter-office channel provided within
24 Illinois. Charges for that portion of the interstate
25 inter-office channel provided in Illinois shall be determined
26 by the retailer as follows: (i) for interstate inter-office
27 channels having 2 channel termination points, only one of
28 which is in Illinois, 50% of the total charge imposed; (ii)
29 for interstate inter-office channels having more than 2
30 channel termination points, one or more of which are in
31 Illinois, an amount equal to the total charge multiplied by a
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1 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of channel
2 termination points within Illinois and the denominator of
3 which is the total number of channel termination points; or
4 (iii) any other method that reasonably apportions the total
5 charges for interstate inter-office channels among the states
6 in which channel termination points are located. Prior to
7 June 1, 2003, any apportionment method consistent with this
8 paragraph shall be accepted as a reasonable method to
9 determine the charges for that portion of the interstate
10 inter-office channel provided within Illinois for that
11 period. However, "gross charges" shall not include any of
12 the following:
13 (1) Any amounts added to a purchaser's bill because
14 of a charge made pursuant to (i) the tax imposed by this
15 Article; (ii) charges added to customers' bills pursuant
16 to the provisions of Sections 9-221 or 9-222 of the
17 Public Utilities Act, as amended, or any similar charges
18 added to customers' bills by retailers who are not
19 subject to rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce
20 Commission for the purpose of recovering any of the tax
21 liabilities or other amounts specified in such provisions
22 of such Act; (iii) the tax imposed by Section 4251 of the
23 Internal Revenue Code; (iv) 911 surcharges; or (v) the
24 tax imposed by the Simplified Municipal
25 Telecommunications Tax Act.;
26 (2) Charges for a sent collect telecommunication
27 received outside of the State.;
28 (3) Charges for leased time on equipment or charges
29 for the storage of data or information for subsequent
30 retrieval or the processing of data or information
31 intended to change its form or content. Such equipment
32 includes, but is not limited to, the use of calculators,
33 computers, data processing equipment, tabulating
34 equipment or accounting equipment and also includes the
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1 usage of computers under a time-sharing agreement.;
2 (4) Charges for customer equipment, including such
3 equipment that is leased or rented by the customer from
4 any source, wherein such charges are disaggregated and
5 separately identified from other charges.;
6 (5) Charges to business enterprises certified under
7 Section 9-222.1 of the Public Utilities Act, as amended,
8 to the extent of such exemption and during the period of
9 time specified by the Department of Commerce and
10 Community Affairs.;
11 (6) Charges for telecommunications and all services
12 and equipment provided in connection therewith between a
13 parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries or
14 between wholly owned subsidiaries when the tax imposed
15 under this Article has already been paid to a retailer
16 and only to the extent that the charges between the
17 parent corporation and wholly owned subsidiaries or
18 between wholly owned subsidiaries represent expense
19 allocation between the corporations and not the
20 generation of profit for the corporation rendering such
21 service.;
22 (7) Bad debts. Bad debt means any portion of a debt
23 that is related to a sale at retail for which gross
24 charges are not otherwise deductible or excludable that
25 has become worthless or uncollectable, as determined
26 under applicable federal income tax standards. If the
27 portion of the debt deemed to be bad is subsequently
28 paid, the retailer shall report and pay the tax on that
29 portion during the reporting period in which the payment
30 is made.;
31 (8) Charges paid by inserting coins in
32 coin-operated telecommunication devices.;
33 (9) Amounts paid by telecommunications retailers
34 under the Telecommunications Municipal Infrastructure
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1 Maintenance Fee Act.
2 (10) Charges for nontaxable services or
3 telecommunications if (i) those charges are aggregated
4 with other charges for telecommunications that are
5 taxable, (ii) those charges are not separately stated on
6 the customer bill or invoice, and (iii) the retailer can
7 reasonably identify the nontaxable charges on the
8 retailer's books and records kept in the regular course
9 of business. If the nontaxable charges cannot reasonably
10 be identified, the gross charge from the sale of both
11 taxable and nontaxable services or telecommunications
12 billed on a combined basis shall be attributed to the
13 taxable services or telecommunications. The burden of
14 proving nontaxable charges shall be on the retailer of
15 the telecommunications.
16 (b) "Amount paid" means the amount charged to the
17 taxpayer's service address in this State regardless of where
18 such amount is billed or paid.
19 (c) "Telecommunications", in addition to the meaning
20 ordinarily and popularly ascribed to it, includes, without
21 limitation, messages or information transmitted through use
22 of local, toll and wide area telephone service; private line
23 services; channel services; telegraph services;
24 teletypewriter; computer exchange services; cellular mobile
25 telecommunications service; specialized mobile radio;
26 stationary two way radio; paging service; or any other form
27 of mobile and portable one-way or two-way communications; or
28 any other transmission of messages or information by
29 electronic or similar means, between or among points by wire,
30 cable, fiber-optics, laser, microwave, radio, satellite or
31 similar facilities. As used in this Act, "private line"
32 means a dedicated non-traffic sensitive service for a single
33 customer, that entitles the customer to exclusive or priority
34 use of a communications channel or group of channels, from
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1 one or more specified locations to one or more other
2 specified locations. The definition of "telecommunications"
3 shall not include value added services in which computer
4 processing applications are used to act on the form, content,
5 code and protocol of the information for purposes other than
6 transmission. "Telecommunications" shall not include
7 purchases of telecommunications by a telecommunications
8 service provider for use as a component part of the service
9 provided by him to the ultimate retail consumer who
10 originates or terminates the taxable end-to-end
11 communications. Carrier access charges, right of access
12 charges, charges for use of inter-company facilities, and all
13 telecommunications resold in the subsequent provision of,
14 used as a component of, or integrated into end-to-end
15 telecommunications service shall be non-taxable as sales for
16 resale.
17 (d) "Interstate telecommunications" means all
18 telecommunications that either originate or terminate outside
19 this State.
20 (e) "Intrastate telecommunications" means all
21 telecommunications that originate and terminate within this
22 State.
23 (f) "Department" means the Department of Revenue of the
24 State of Illinois.
25 (g) "Director" means the Director of Revenue for the
26 Department of Revenue of the State of Illinois.
27 (h) "Taxpayer" means a person who individually or
28 through his agents, employees or permittees engages in the
29 act or privilege of originating or receiving
30 telecommunications in this State and who incurs a tax
31 liability under this Article.
32 (i) "Person" means any natural individual, firm, trust,
33 estate, partnership, association, joint stock company, joint
34 venture, corporation, limited liability company, or a
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1 receiver, trustee, guardian or other representative appointed
2 by order of any court, the Federal and State governments,
3 including State universities created by statute or any city,
4 town, county or other political subdivision of this State.
5 (j) "Purchase at retail" means the acquisition,
6 consumption or use of telecommunication through a sale at
7 retail.
8 (k) "Sale at retail" means the transmitting, supplying
9 or furnishing of telecommunications and all services and
10 equipment provided in connection therewith for a
11 consideration to persons other than the Federal and State
12 governments, and State universities created by statute and
13 other than between a parent corporation and its wholly owned
14 subsidiaries or between wholly owned subsidiaries for their
15 use or consumption and not for resale.
16 (l) "Retailer" means and includes every person engaged
17 in the business of making sales at retail as defined in this
18 Article. The Department may, in its discretion, upon
19 application, authorize the collection of the tax hereby
20 imposed by any retailer not maintaining a place of business
21 within this State, who, to the satisfaction of the
22 Department, furnishes adequate security to insure collection
23 and payment of the tax. Such retailer shall be issued,
24 without charge, a permit to collect such tax. When so
25 authorized, it shall be the duty of such retailer to collect
26 the tax upon all of the gross charges for telecommunications
27 in this State in the same manner and subject to the same
28 requirements as a retailer maintaining a place of business
29 within this State. The permit may be revoked by the
30 Department at its discretion.
31 (m) "Retailer maintaining a place of business in this
32 State", or any like term, means and includes any retailer
33 having or maintaining within this State, directly or by a
34 subsidiary, an office, distribution facilities, transmission
HB1273 Enrolled -7- LRB9203256SMdv
1 facilities, sales office, warehouse or other place of
2 business, or any agent or other representative operating
3 within this State under the authority of the retailer or its
4 subsidiary, irrespective of whether such place of business or
5 agent or other representative is located here permanently or
6 temporarily, or whether such retailer or subsidiary is
7 licensed to do business in this State.
8 (n) "Service address" means the location of
9 telecommunications equipment from which the
10 telecommunications services are originated or at which
11 telecommunications services are received by a taxpayer. In
12 the event this may not be a defined location, as in the case
13 of mobile phones, paging systems, maritime systems, service
14 address means the customer's place of primary use as defined
15 in the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Conformity Act.
16 For air-to-ground systems and the like, service address shall
17 mean the location of a taxpayer's primary use of the
18 telecommunications equipment as defined by telephone number,
19 authorization code, or location in Illinois where bills are
20 sent.
21 (o) "Prepaid telephone calling arrangements" mean the
22 right to exclusively purchase telephone or telecommunications
23 services that must be paid for in advance and enable the
24 origination of one or more intrastate, interstate, or
25 international telephone calls or other telecommunications
26 using an access number, an authorization code, or both,
27 whether manually or electronically dialed, for which payment
28 to a retailer must be made in advance, provided that, unless
29 recharged, no further service is provided once that prepaid
30 amount of service has been consumed. Prepaid telephone
31 calling arrangements include the recharge of a prepaid
32 calling arrangement. For purposes of this subsection,
33 "recharge" means the purchase of additional prepaid telephone
34 or telecommunications services whether or not the purchaser
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1 acquires a different access number or authorization code.
2 "Prepaid telephone calling arrangement" does not include an
3 arrangement whereby a customer purchases a payment card and
4 pursuant to which the service provider reflects the amount of
5 such purchase as a credit on an invoice issued to that
6 customer under an existing subscription plan.
7 (Source: P.A. 91-870, eff. 6-22-00; 92-474, eff. 8-1-02;
8 92-526, eff. 1-1-03.)
9 Section 10. The Telecommunications Infrastructure
10 Maintenance Fee Act is amended by changing Section 10 as
11 follows:
12 (35 ILCS 635/10)
13 Sec. 10. Definitions.
14 (a) "Gross charges" means the amount paid to a
15 telecommunications retailer for the act or privilege of
16 originating or receiving telecommunications in this State and
17 for all services rendered in connection therewith, valued in
18 money whether paid in money or otherwise, including cash,
19 credits, services, and property of every kind or nature, and
20 shall be determined without any deduction on account of the
21 cost of such telecommunications, the cost of the materials
22 used, labor or service costs, or any other expense
23 whatsoever. In case credit is extended, the amount thereof
24 shall be included only as and when paid. "Gross charges" for
25 private line service shall include charges imposed at each
26 channel point within this State, charges for the channel
27 mileage between each channel point within this State, and
28 charges for that portion of the interstate inter-office
29 channel provided within Illinois. Charges for that portion of
30 the interstate inter-office channel provided in Illinois
31 shall be determined by the retailer as follows: (i) for
32 interstate inter-office channels having 2 channel termination
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1 points, only one of which is in Illinois, 50% of the total
2 charge imposed; (ii) for interstate inter-office channels
3 having more than 2 channel termination points, one or more of
4 which are in Illinois, an amount equal to the total charge
5 multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the
6 number of channel termination points within Illinois and the
7 denominator of which is the total number of channel
8 termination points; or (iii) any other method that reasonably
9 apportions the total charges for interstate inter-office
10 channels among the states in which channel termination points
11 are located. Prior to June 1, 2003, any apportionment method
12 consistent with this paragraph shall be accepted as a
13 reasonable method to determine the charges for that portion
14 of the interstate inter-office channel provided within
15 Illinois for that period. However, "gross charges" shall not
16 include any of the following:
17 (1) Any amounts added to a purchaser's bill because
18 of a charge made under: (i) the fee imposed by this
19 Section, (ii) additional charges added to a purchaser's
20 bill under Section 9-221 or 9-222 of the Public Utilities
21 Act, (iii) the tax imposed by the Telecommunications
22 Excise Tax Act, (iv) 911 surcharges, (v) the tax imposed
23 by Section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code, or (vi) the
24 tax imposed by the Simplified Municipal
25 Telecommunications Tax Act.;
26 (2) Charges for a sent collect telecommunication
27 received outside of this State.;
28 (3) Charges for leased time on equipment or charges
29 for the storage of data or information or subsequent
30 retrieval or the processing of data or information
31 intended to change its form or content. Such equipment
32 includes, but is not limited to, the use of calculators,
33 computers, data processing equipment, tabulating
34 equipment, or accounting equipment and also includes the
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1 usage of computers under a time-sharing agreement.;
2 (4) Charges for customer equipment, including such
3 equipment that is leased or rented by the customer from
4 any source, wherein such charges are disaggregated and
5 separately identified from other charges.;
6 (5) Charges to business enterprises certified under
7 Section 9-222.1 of the Public Utilities Act to the extent
8 of such exemption and during the period of time specified
9 by the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs.;
10 (6) Charges for telecommunications and all services
11 and equipment provided in connection therewith between a
12 parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries or
13 between wholly owned subsidiaries, and only to the extent
14 that the charges between the parent corporation and
15 wholly owned subsidiaries or between wholly owned
16 subsidiaries represent expense allocation between the
17 corporations and not the generation of profit other than
18 a regulatory required profit for the corporation
19 rendering such services.;
20 (7) Bad debts ("bad debt" means any portion of a
21 debt that is related to a sale at retail for which gross
22 charges are not otherwise deductible or excludable that
23 has become worthless or uncollectible, as determined
24 under applicable federal income tax standards; if the
25 portion of the debt deemed to be bad is subsequently
26 paid, the retailer shall report and pay the tax on that
27 portion during the reporting period in which the payment
28 is made).; or
29 (8) Charges paid by inserting coins in
30 coin-operated telecommunication devices.
31 (9) Charges for nontaxable services or
32 telecommunications if (i) those charges are aggregated
33 with other charges for telecommunications that are
34 taxable, (ii) those charges are not separately stated on
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1 the customer bill or invoice, and (iii) the retailer can
2 reasonably identify the nontaxable charges on the
3 retailer's books and records kept in the regular course
4 of business. If the nontaxable charges cannot reasonably
5 be identified, the gross charge from the sale of both
6 taxable and nontaxable services or telecommunications
7 billed on a combined basis shall be attributed to the
8 taxable services or telecommunications. The burden of
9 proving nontaxable charges shall be on the retailer of
10 the telecommunications.
11 (a-5) "Department" means the Illinois Department of
12 Revenue.
13 (b) "Telecommunications" includes, but is not limited
14 to, messages or information transmitted through use of local,
15 toll, and wide area telephone service, channel services,
16 telegraph services, teletypewriter service, computer exchange
17 services, private line services, specialized mobile radio
18 services, or any other transmission of messages or
19 information by electronic or similar means, between or among
20 points by wire, cable, fiber optics, laser, microwave, radio,
21 satellite, or similar facilities. Unless the context clearly
22 requires otherwise, "telecommunications" shall also include
23 wireless telecommunications as hereinafter defined.
24 "Telecommunications" shall not include value added services
25 in which computer processing applications are used to act on
26 the form, content, code, and protocol of the information for
27 purposes other than transmission. "Telecommunications" shall
28 not include purchase of telecommunications by a
29 telecommunications service provider for use as a component
30 part of the service provided by him or her to the ultimate
31 retail consumer who originates or terminates the end-to-end
32 communications. Retailer access charges, right of access
33 charges, charges for use of intercompany facilities, and all
34 telecommunications resold in the subsequent provision and
HB1273 Enrolled -12- LRB9203256SMdv
1 used as a component of, or integrated into, end-to-end
2 telecommunications service shall not be included in gross
3 charges as sales for resale. "Telecommunications" shall not
4 include the provision of cable services through a cable
5 system as defined in the Cable Communications Act of 1984 (47
6 U.S.C. Sections 521 and following) as now or hereafter
7 amended or through an open video system as defined in the
8 Rules of the Federal Communications Commission (47 C.D.F.
9 76.1550 and following) as now or hereafter amended.
10 Beginning January 1, 2001, prepaid telephone calling
11 arrangements shall not be considered "telecommunications"
12 subject to the tax imposed under this Act. For purposes of
13 this Section, "prepaid telephone calling arrangements" means
14 that term as defined in Section 2-27 of the Retailers'
15 Occupation Tax Act.
16 (c) "Wireless telecommunications" includes cellular
17 mobile telephone services, personal wireless services as
18 defined in Section 704(C) of the Telecommunications Act of
19 1996 (Public Law No. 104-104) as now or hereafter amended,
20 including all commercial mobile radio services, and paging
21 services.
22 (d) "Telecommunications retailer" or "retailer" or
23 "carrier" means and includes every person engaged in the
24 business of making sales of telecommunications at retail as
25 defined in this Section. The Department may, in its
26 discretion, upon applications, authorize the collection of
27 the fee hereby imposed by any retailer not maintaining a
28 place of business within this State, who, to the satisfaction
29 of the Department, furnishes adequate security to insure
30 collection and payment of the fee. When so authorized, it
31 shall be the duty of such retailer to pay the fee upon all of
32 the gross charges for telecommunications in the same manner
33 and subject to the same requirements as a retailer
34 maintaining a place of business within this State.
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1 (e) "Retailer maintaining a place of business in this
2 State", or any like term, means and includes any retailer
3 having or maintaining within this State, directly or by a
4 subsidiary, an office, distribution facilities, transmission
5 facilities, sales office, warehouse, or other place of
6 business, or any agent or other representative operating
7 within this State under the authority of the retailer or its
8 subsidiary, irrespective of whether such place of business or
9 agent or other representative is located here permanently or
10 temporarily, or whether such retailer or subsidiary is
11 licensed to do business in this State.
12 (f) "Sale of telecommunications at retail" means the
13 transmitting, supplying, or furnishing of telecommunications
14 and all services rendered in connection therewith for a
15 consideration, other than between a parent corporation and
16 its wholly owned subsidiaries or between wholly owned
17 subsidiaries, when the gross charge made by one such
18 corporation to another such corporation is not greater than
19 the gross charge paid to the retailer for their use or
20 consumption and not for sale.
21 (g) "Service address" means the location of
22 telecommunications equipment from which telecommunications
23 services are originated or at which telecommunications
24 services are received. If this is not a defined location, as
25 in the case of wireless telecommunications, paging systems,
26 maritime systems, service address means the customer's place
27 of primary use as defined in the Mobile Telecommunications
28 Sourcing Conformity Act. For air-to-ground systems, and the
29 like, "service address" shall mean the location of the
30 customer's primary use of the telecommunications equipment as
31 defined by the location in Illinois where bills are sent.
32 (Source: P.A. 91-870, eff. 6-22-00; 92-474, eff. 8-1-02;
33 92-526, eff. 1-1-03.)
HB1273 Enrolled -14- LRB9203256SMdv
1 Section 15. The Simplified Municipal Telecommunications
2 Tax Act is amended by changing Section 5-7 as follows:
3 (35 ILCS 636/5-7)
4 Sec. 5-7. Definitions. For purposes of the taxes
5 authorized by this Act:
6 "Amount paid" means the amount charged to the taxpayer's
7 service address in such municipality regardless of where such
8 amount is billed or paid.
9 "Department" means the Illinois Department of Revenue.
10 "Gross charge" means the amount paid for the act or
11 privilege of originating or receiving telecommunications in
12 such municipality and for all services and equipment provided
13 in connection therewith by a retailer, valued in money
14 whether paid in money or otherwise, including cash, credits,
15 services and property of every kind or nature, and shall be
16 determined without any deduction on account of the cost of
17 such telecommunications, the cost of the materials used,
18 labor or service costs or any other expense whatsoever. In
19 case credit is extended, the amount thereof shall be included
20 only as and when paid. "Gross charges" for private line
21 service shall include charges imposed at each channel point
22 within this State, charges for the channel mileage between
23 each channel point within this State, and charges for that
24 portion of the interstate inter-office channel provided
25 within Illinois. Charges for that portion of the interstate
26 inter-office channel provided in Illinois shall be determined
27 by the retailer as follows: (i) for interstate inter-office
28 channels having 2 channel termination points, only one of
29 which is in Illinois, 50% of the total charge imposed; (ii)
30 for interstate inter-office channels having more than 2
31 channel termination points, one or more of which are in
32 Illinois, an amount equal to the total charge multiplied by a
33 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of channel
HB1273 Enrolled -15- LRB9203256SMdv
1 termination points within Illinois and the denominator of
2 which is the total number of channel termination points; or
3 (iii) any other method that reasonably apportions the total
4 charges for interstate inter-office channels among the states
5 in which channel termination points are located. Prior to
6 June 1, 2003, any apportionment method consistent with this
7 paragraph shall be accepted as a reasonable method to
8 determine the charges for that portion of the interstate
9 inter-office channel provided within Illinois for that
10 period. However, "gross charge" shall not include any of the
11 following:
12 (1) Any amounts added to a purchaser's bill because
13 of a charge made pursuant to: (i) the tax imposed by this
14 Act, (ii) the tax imposed by the Telecommunications
15 Excise Tax Act, (iii) the tax imposed by Section 4251 of
16 the Internal Revenue Code, (iv) 911 surcharges, or (v)
17 charges added to customers' bills pursuant to the
18 provisions of Section 9-221 or 9-222 of the Public
19 Utilities Act, as amended, or any similar charges added
20 to customers' bills by retailers who are not subject to
21 rate regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission for
22 the purpose of recovering any of the tax liabilities or
23 other amounts specified in those provisions of the Public
24 Utilities Act.;
25 (2) Charges for a sent collect telecommunication
26 received outside of such municipality.;
27 (3) Charges for leased time on equipment or charges
28 for the storage of data or information for subsequent
29 retrieval or the processing of data or information
30 intended to change its form or content. Such equipment
31 includes, but is not limited to, the use of calculators,
32 computers, data processing equipment, tabulating
33 equipment or accounting equipment and also includes the
34 usage of computers under a time-sharing agreement.;
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1 (4) Charges for customer equipment, including such
2 equipment that is leased or rented by the customer from
3 any source, wherein such charges are disaggregated and
4 separately identified from other charges.;
5 (5) Charges to business enterprises certified as
6 exempt under Section 9-222.1 of the Public Utilities Act
7 to the extent of such exemption and during the period of
8 time specified by the Department of Commerce and
9 Community Affairs.;
10 (6) Charges for telecommunications and all services
11 and equipment provided in connection therewith between a
12 parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries or
13 between wholly owned subsidiaries when the tax imposed
14 under this Act has already been paid to a retailer and
15 only to the extent that the charges between the parent
16 corporation and wholly owned subsidiaries or between
17 wholly owned subsidiaries represent expense allocation
18 between the corporations and not the generation of profit
19 for the corporation rendering such service.;
20 (7) Bad debts ("bad debt" means any portion of a
21 debt that is related to a sale at retail for which gross
22 charges are not otherwise deductible or excludable that
23 has become worthless or uncollectible, as determined
24 under applicable federal income tax standards; if the
25 portion of the debt deemed to be bad is subsequently
26 paid, the retailer shall report and pay the tax on that
27 portion during the reporting period in which the payment
28 is made).;
29 (8) Charges paid by inserting coins in
30 coin-operated telecommunication devices.; or
31 (9) Amounts paid by telecommunications retailers
32 under the Telecommunications Infrastructure Maintenance
33 Fee Act.
34 (10) Charges for nontaxable services or
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1 telecommunications if (i) those charges are aggregated
2 with other charges for telecommunications that are
3 taxable, (ii) those charges are not separately stated on
4 the customer bill or invoice, and (iii) the retailer can
5 reasonably identify the nontaxable charges on the
6 retailer's books and records kept in the regular course
7 of business. If the nontaxable charges cannot reasonably
8 be identified, the gross charge from the sale of both
9 taxable and nontaxable services or telecommunications
10 billed on a combined basis shall be attributed to the
11 taxable services or telecommunications. The burden of
12 proving nontaxable charges shall be on the retailer of
13 the telecommunications.
14 "Interstate telecommunications" means all
15 telecommunications that either originate or terminate outside
16 this State.
17 "Intrastate telecommunications" means all
18 telecommunications that originate and terminate within this
19 State.
20 "Person" means any natural individual, firm, trust,
21 estate, partnership, association, joint stock company, joint
22 venture, corporation, limited liability company, or a
23 receiver, trustee, guardian, or other representative
24 appointed by order of any court, the Federal and State
25 governments, including State universities created by statute,
26 or any city, town, county, or other political subdivision of
27 this State.
28 "Purchase at retail" means the acquisition, consumption
29 or use of telecommunications through a sale at retail.
30 "Retailer" means and includes every person engaged in the
31 business of making sales at retail as defined in this
32 Section. The Department may, in its discretion, upon
33 application, authorize the collection of the tax hereby
34 imposed by any retailer not maintaining a place of business
HB1273 Enrolled -18- LRB9203256SMdv
1 within this State, who, to the satisfaction of the
2 Department, furnishes adequate security to insure collection
3 and payment of the tax. Such retailer shall be issued,
4 without charge, a permit to collect such tax. When so
5 authorized, it shall be the duty of such retailer to collect
6 the tax upon all of the gross charges for telecommunications
7 in this State in the same manner and subject to the same
8 requirements as a retailer maintaining a place of business
9 within this State. The permit may be revoked by the
10 Department at its discretion.
11 "Retailer maintaining a place of business in this State",
12 or any like term, means and includes any retailer having or
13 maintaining within this State, directly or by a subsidiary,
14 an office, distribution facilities, transmission facilities,
15 sales office, warehouse or other place of business, or any
16 agent or other representative operating within this State
17 under the authority of the retailer or its subsidiary,
18 irrespective of whether such place of business or agent or
19 other representative is located here permanently or
20 temporarily, or whether such retailer or subsidiary is
21 licensed to do business in this State.
22 "Sale at retail" means the transmitting, supplying or
23 furnishing of telecommunications and all services and
24 equipment provided in connection therewith for a
25 consideration, to persons other than the Federal and State
26 governments, and State universities created by statute and
27 other than between a parent corporation and its wholly owned
28 subsidiaries or between wholly owned subsidiaries for their
29 use or consumption and not for resale.
30 "Service address" means the location of
31 telecommunications equipment from which telecommunications
32 services are originated or at which telecommunications
33 services are received by a taxpayer. In the event this may
34 not be a defined location, as in the case of mobile phones,
HB1273 Enrolled -19- LRB9203256SMdv
1 paging systems, and maritime systems, service address means
2 the customer's place of primary use as defined in the Mobile
3 Telecommunications Sourcing Conformity Act. For
4 air-to-ground systems and the like, "service address" shall
5 mean the location of a taxpayer's primary use of the
6 telecommunications equipment as defined by telephone number,
7 authorization code, or location in Illinois where bills are
8 sent.
9 "Taxpayer" means a person who individually or through his
10 or her agents, employees, or permittees engages in the act or
11 privilege of originating or receiving telecommunications in a
12 municipality and who incurs a tax liability as authorized by
13 this Act.
14 "Telecommunications", in addition to the meaning
15 ordinarily and popularly ascribed to it, includes, without
16 limitation, messages or information transmitted through use
17 of local, toll, and wide area telephone service, private line
18 services, channel services, telegraph services,
19 teletypewriter, computer exchange services, cellular mobile
20 telecommunications service, specialized mobile radio,
21 stationary two-way radio, paging service, or any other form
22 of mobile and portable one-way or two-way communications, or
23 any other transmission of messages or information by
24 electronic or similar means, between or among points by wire,
25 cable, fiber optics, laser, microwave, radio, satellite, or
26 similar facilities. As used in this Act, "private line"
27 means a dedicated non-traffic sensitive service for a single
28 customer, that entitles the customer to exclusive or priority
29 use of a communications channel or group of channels, from
30 one or more specified locations to one or more other
31 specified locations. The definition of "telecommunications"
32 shall not include value added services in which computer
33 processing applications are used to act on the form, content,
34 code, and protocol of the information for purposes other than
HB1273 Enrolled -20- LRB9203256SMdv
1 transmission. "Telecommunications" shall not include
2 purchases of telecommunications by a telecommunications
3 service provider for use as a component part of the service
4 provided by such provider to the ultimate retail consumer who
5 originates or terminates the taxable end-to-end
6 communications. Carrier access charges, right of access
7 charges, charges for use of inter-company facilities, and all
8 telecommunications resold in the subsequent provision of,
9 used as a component of, or integrated into, end-to-end
10 telecommunications service shall be non-taxable as sales for
11 resale. Prepaid telephone calling arrangements shall not be
12 considered "telecommunications" subject to the tax imposed
13 under this Act. For purposes of this Section, "prepaid
14 telephone calling arrangements" means that term as defined in
15 Section 2-27 of the Retailers' Occupation Occupations Tax
16 Act.
17 (Source: P.A. 92-526, eff. 7-1-02; revised 2-25-02.)
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