Illinois Administrative Code › Title 86 - REVENUE › Part 130 - RETAILERS' OCCUPATION TAX › Subpart H - BOOKS AND RECORDS › Section 130.825 - Department Authorization to Destroy Records Sooner Than Would Otherwise be Permissible

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) In all
				cases, the Department may, in writing, authorize the destruction of books and
				records and other papers prior to the expiration of the periods of time during
				which the taxpayer, except for such written authorization from the Department,
				is required to keep his books and records. The Department may authorize
				destruction of records if the records are preserved in microfilm, microfiche,
				other storage-only imaging systems or an electronic data processing system and
				meet the conditions as prescribed in Section
				130.805.
b) Record Retention Limitation Agreements
1) The Department may, at the request of the
				taxpayer, enter into a record retention limitation agreement with a taxpayer
				which agreement may modify or waive any of the specific requirements of Section
				130.805. A taxpayer's request for such an agreement must specify which records
				(if any) the taxpayer proposes not to retain and provide the reasons for not
				retaining such records as well as proposing any other terms of the requested
				agreement. The taxpayer shall remain subject to all requirements of Section
				130.805
				that are not modified, waived or superseded by a duly approved record retention
				limitation agreement.
2) The
				Department may revoke or modify a record retention limitation agreement or any
				provision thereof.
3) The record
				retention limitation agreement shall specifically identify which of the
				taxpayer's records the Department has determined are not necessary for
				retention and which the taxpayer may discard. The agreement shall also clearly
				state each authorized variance, if any, from the normal provisions of Section
				130.805. The agreement shall also document other understandings reached with
				the Department, which may include, but not be limited to:
A) the conversion of files created on an
				obsolete computer system;
B)
				restoration of lost or damaged files and the actions to be taken;
C) use of taxpayer computer
				resources.
4) The
				Department shall consider a taxpayer's request for a record retention
				limitation agreement and notify the taxpayer of the actions to be taken. The
				Department's decision to enter or not to enter into a record retention
				limitation agreement shall not relieve the taxpayer of the responsibility under
				the Act to keep adequate and complete records necessary to a determination of
				tax liability.
5) Unless otherwise
				specified, an agreement shall not apply to accounting and tax systems added
				subsequent to the effective date of the agreement. All machine-sensible records
				produced by a subsequently added accounting or tax system shall be retained by
				the taxpayer in accordance with Section
				130.805
				until a new agreement is entered into with the Department.
6) Unless otherwise specified, an agreement
				shall not apply to any subsidiary or other entity that, subsequent to the
				effective date of a record retention limitation agreement, is acquired by the
				taxpayer. All machine-sensible records produced by the acquired subsidiary
				shall be retained pursuant to Section
				130.805
				and any record retention limitation agreement that may have been in effect for
				the acquired subsidiary ("pre-acquisition agreement"). The provisions of the
				pre-acquisition agreement shall continue to apply to the acquired subsidiary
				until revoked or modified by the Department or a new agreement applying to the
				acquired subsidiary is entered into.
7) To evaluate the propriety of a record
				retention limitation agreement, the Department may conduct an evaluation of the
				taxpayer's record retention practices. The evaluation may include a review of
				the taxpayer's relevant data processing and accounting systems, including
				systems using electronic data interchange technology.
A) The Department shall notify the taxpayer
				of the results of any evaluation, including acceptance or disapproval of any
				proposals made by the taxpayer (e.g., to discard certain records) or any
				changes considered necessary to bring the taxpayer's practices into compliance
				with Section 130.805.
B) The
				evaluation of a taxpayer's record retention practices under this Section is not
				directly related to the determination of tax reporting accuracy for a
				particular period or return. An evaluation made under this Section is not an
				"audit".