Illinois Administrative Code › Title 86 - REVENUE › Part 200 - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE FOR HEARINGS BEFORE THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE › Section 200.155 - Evidence and Conduct of Hearings

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 The procedure at hearings shall be similar to that in court proceedings. The
			 order in which evidence is to be presented shall be determined by the party
			 which, at a given point, must sustain the burden of proof. In accordance with
			 Section 10-40 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, the rules of
			 evidence as used in the civil courts of this State shall govern the conduct of
			 any matter at hearing. However, neither the Department or any officer or
			 employee thereof nor the taxpayer who is a party to the hearing shall be bound
			 by the technical rules of evidence in the taking or admission of proofs.
			 Hearsay is not a technical rule of evidence and may not be admitted, except to
			 the extent that it is of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent
			 persons in the conduct of their affairs.
b) Only evidential and related matters having
			 or possibly having a bearing on the adjustments or issues involved in the case
			 shall be heard and considered. Thus, any presentation or attempted presentation
			 of matters not germane to the adjustments or issues of the case shall be heard
			 only to a limited extent sufficient to enable Departmental or court review of
			 the correctness of its exclusion, due to being ruled inadmissible, from the
			 hearing record.
c) Exhibits which
			 are to be introduced in evidence at a hearing shall be marked for
			 identification in advance of the hearing and before being formally offered in
			 evidence. All exhibits shall be marked using a numerical sequence only. Use of
			 alphabetic or alphanumeric identification is not favored. Group exhibits shall
			 disclose the number of pages within the group.
d) Records of or kept by the Department of
			 Revenue may be proved in any hearing by a reproduced copy of such record under
			 the Certificate of the Director.
e)
			 The Administrative Law Judge shall rule on objections as to the admissibility
			 of evidence and on other matters raised for determination at the time they are
			 presented and shall not be deferred to be ruled upon by written recommendation.
			 Evidence excluded by rulings of the Administrative Law Judge shall,
			 nevertheless, be placed in the record so that the question of its admissibility
			 may be passed upon by a reviewing court, provided an offer of proof has been
			 made. In this connection, however, an Administrative Law Judge may require that
			 excluded testimony or other evidence be presented in a condensed form so as to
			 avoid needless repetition and undue length of the hearing record.
f) With the exception of Section
			 200.135(f)
			 of this Part, all evidence in support of any issue, whether in the nature of
			 testimony, documents, or other physical matter, shall be taken in the course of
			 and on the date(s) set for hearing. An Administrative Law Judge shall not
			 accept or consider evidence of any form or nature which is received or
			 submitted outside of or subsequent to the hearing itself, nor permit same under
			 any circumstances, without the express written and recorded agreement of the
			 parties.
g) Briefs and Briefing
			 Schedules. Except upon approval of the presiding Administrative Law Judge, no
			 brief or memorandum submitted in support of or in opposition to any issue,
			 either before, during or after hearing, shall exceed 50 pages in length, double
			 spaced type. No briefing schedule shall extend more than a maximum of 75 days
			 beyond the last day of the hearing. No party shall have the right to file any
			 brief, memorandum, supplementary argument or other matter beyond the date it is
			 due as set by order without first giving notice and obtaining leave of the
			 presiding Administrative Law Judge to do so instanter. No party shall have the
			 right to file any supporting argument not contemplated by order without
			 obtaining leave in the same fashion.
h) Except for the expansion of page
			 limitations, Administrative Law Judges acting in the absence of any assigned
			 Department litigator may not consent to abrogate the requirements of
			 subsections (f) and (g) of this Section.