Samantha K. Breslow

12/18/20 Samantha K. Breslow will discuss the Internet Tax Freedom Act for the Chicago Bar Association YLS Business Law Transactions Committee. The intent of the Internet Tax Freedom Act was to protect electronic commerce from the taxman, but has it succeeded? This webinar will focus on recent pending cases (Labell v. City of Chicago and Apple, Inc. v. City of…

12/8/20 10:00AM - 11:30AM CT David W. Machemer and Samantha K. Breslow will present a City of Chicago and Cook County update for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Tax Institute. Chicagoland revenue departments have become increasingly more aggressive with respect to the enforcement and collection of local taxes. This presentation will explore recent developments to local taxes that have seen…

10/22/20 12:00PM CT The COVID pandemic has dominated the 2020 headlines. Congress responded to the pandemic by adopting the CARES Act, a federal law that also has significant SALT ramifications. States responded by modifying their nexus and withholding rules for employees working from home. Join David A. Hughes and Samantha K. Breslow for this session where they will explore those…

8/26/2020 Residency and Other State Income Tax Issues for Individuals - David A. Hughes and Dakota S. Newton 10:50AM - 11:40AM CT With the increase in flow-through entities, individual income tax issues are becoming more complex to navigate. Explore critical issues including credits for tax paid to other states, taxation of nonresident individuals, and income tax on the sale of…

7/15/2020 12:30PM - 1:30PM CT CPE And CLE Credit Chicagoland revenue departments have become increasingly more aggressive with respect to the enforcement and collection of local taxes. This presentation will explore local taxes that have recently seen increased audit activity, including the Lease Transaction, Amusement, Tobacco and Motor Fuel taxes. They will discuss audit best practices and provide an overview…

In the Illinois Practitioner Series, HMB's SALT team discusses various topics covering Illinois Procedures, Corporate Income Tax, Retailers' Occupation Tax (Sales Tax) and Use Tax and Local Taxes. Download the full booklet here. Questions? Reach out to the state and local tax team here.  …

Auditors in Chicago have been aggressively asserting that businesses have tax duties under the "cloud computing tax" because of their economic presence, or the volume of business they conduct within the city. In an article by Bloomberg Law News titled "State of Wayfair: Economic Thresholds Sneak Into Chicago Audits" by Michael J. Bologna, Samantha Breslow explains that the problem is…

At the beginning of 2016, Chicago implemented a unique method to tax businesses for their use of remote computing services, also known as the cloud. The Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax program collected $13.9 million during its first six months and rose to $42.2 million through 6/30/18. In an article by Bloomberg Law News, Samantha Breslow explained that Chicago is…

After serving as Vice Chair of the Chicago Bar Association's SALT committee last year, Samantha Breslow has been appointed as the 2019-2020 Chair. Learn more about Chicago Bar Association here.…

In this second of a three-part series, Breslow discusses the Internet Tax Freedom Act and whether the digital world has really been protected from the tax man. Adoption and Intent of the ITFA Initially adopted in 1998 under the Clinton administration with the mantra “no new internet taxes,” the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) was made permanent on February 24,…

On March 19, 2020, Chicago Mayor Lightfoot announced that the City of Chicago will extend the due date for “small businesses” to pay the following Chicago taxes to April 30, 2020: Bottled Water Tax, Checkout Bag Tax, Amusement Tax, Hotel Accommodations Tax, Restaurant Tax, and the Parking Tax. The City requires that taxpayers pay these taxes on or before the…

Read the full article on Tax Notes here (subscription required). Samantha Breslow discusses how the sluggishness of legislation does not often adjust itself to the speed and terminology of technology. However, there are a few states that are adapting to overcome the discrepancies. Download a PDF of the full article here. Debugging the (State Tax) Code: Outdated Sales Tax Terminology…

On November 16, 2020, the City Council for the City of Chicago (“City Council”) amended the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ordinance (“Ordinance”), eliminating the lower rate of tax on a nonpossessory lease of a computer, which includes “cloud” software products.

In a prior post, I explained the basics of the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (“Transaction Tax”), including the applicability of the tax to tangible personal property and software, potentially applicable exemptions and exclusions from the tax, and collection issues. This follow-up post in the Practitioner Series further clarifies the application of the Transaction Tax to “cloud” software products and explores the interplay with the Illinois Retailers’ Occupation Tax (“ROT”).

Although the Chicago and Cook County amusement tax are imposed similarly on taxpayers, they are independently administered taxes that feature key differences. Both the Chicago Amusement Tax Ordinance and Cook County Amusement Tax Ordinance impose the tax "upon the patrons of every amusement" within the city or county, but require the owner, manager, or operator of the amusement to collect the tax from each patron and remit the tax to the Chicago Department of Finance or the Cook County Department of Revenue.

For taxpayers surprised to find their business caught in the crosshairs of a Chicago or Cook County audit, substantial penalties can also be an alarming challenge. In a prior post, I outlined penalties assessed by the Illinois Department of Revenue ("Department"), the basis for relief, and the process for seeking penalty abatement. Although the basis for relief is similar for Chicago and Cook County penalties, there are key differences in the procedure and requirements for seeking penalty abatement.

At the close of an audit, in addition to tax and interest, a taxpayer may also be assessed various types of penalties that can be substantial and even surpass the underlying tax liability. However, there are several courses of action for seeking penalty abatement, which can often prove to be a worthy exercise for taxpayers.