Illinois Administrative Code › Title 86 - REVENUE › Part 480 - HOTEL OPERATORS' OCCUPATION TAX ACT › Section 480.125 - Claims to Recover Erroneously Paid Tax

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) The Filing of Claims
Where an operator pays Hotel Operators' Occupation Tax to the
				Department in error, either as a result of a mistake of fact or an error of
				law, the operator may file a claim with the Department upon a form which the
				Department prescribes and will issue on request.
b) Bearing the Burden of the Tax
In addition to proving that he did not owe the tax for which
				recovery is sought, the claimant must also prove that he bore the burden of the
				amount of such tax, either by not shifting the burden of the tax to anyone else
				in the first instance, or by unconditionally refunding any amounts passed on
				because of the tax to his customers, who bore the burden thereof.
c) Statute of Limitations
As to any claim filed with the Department on and after each
				January 1 and July 1, no amount of tax or penalty erroneously paid (either in
				total or partial liquidation of a tax or penalty under The Hotel Operators'
				Occupation Tax Act) more than 3 years prior to such January 1 and July 1,
				respectively, shall be credited.
d) Credit Memorandum or Refund
When any claim is allowed, the Department shall issue an
				assignable credit memorandum to the claimant for the amount so allowed.
e) Refunds
In case the Department determines that the claimant is entitled
				to a refund, such refund shall be made only from such appropriation as may be
				available for that purpose. If it appears unlikely that the amount appropriated
				would permit everyone having a claim allowed during the period covered by such
				appropriation to elect to receive a cash refund, the Department will make such
				refunds only in hardship cases (i.e., in cases in which the claimant cannot use
				a credit memorandum). The two most likely situations where this would be the
				case are the situation in which the claimant has discontinued business and the
				situation in which the claimant will have a small volume of liability to the
				Department in the foreseeable future, but receives a large credit memorandum
				which it therefore might take the claimant a long time to liquidate by using it
				to pay current taxes. In these instances, the claimant probably would have to
				sell the credit memorandum at a loss in order to realize anything from it
				within any reasonable period of time.
f) Procedure - Incorporation by Reference
1) The procedure for disposing of claims and
			 of credit memoranda shall be the same as that provided for in the Retailers'
			 Occupation Tax Act and in Article 16 of the Retailers' Occupation Tax
			 Regulations.
2) In general, the
			 provisions of 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130: Subpart O of the Retailers' Occupation Tax
			 Regulations (including provisions concerning interest on overpayments of tax as
			 well as other provisions) shall apply to claims under The Hotel Operators'
			 Occupation Tax Act. For that purpose, said Subpart O is incorporated by
			 reference into this Regulation and made a part hereof.