Illinois Residents Brace For New Sales Tax Proposals

As if it weren't bad enough that Illinois' motor fuel tax is about to go up again on July 1st (read about that, and what it will do to your wallet here), now come news that Illinois lawmakers are working hard and with increasing urgency to push through a new package of sales taxes before their adjournment happens on May 31st.

These taxes would be for more than just goods, as the lawmakers are trying to expand sales taxes outward toward services like car repair, gym memberships, and a whole lot more.

A recent poll showed that nearly 50 percent of Illinoisans would move out of the state if they had the chance, and that the number one reason they want to leave is because of taxes. It's moves like the one currently being worked on in Springfield that will raise the number of people who want to leave to much higher than 50 percent.

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Illinois Is One Of The Most Over-Taxed States In The Country, And It Appears That Illinois Lawmakers Want To Make Sure It Stays That Way

That's not an opinion, but a fact that the numbers show over and over again. Here are some examples from Americans For Prosperity of just some of the tax burden that's being shouldered by Illinois residents:

Our various taxes consistently place us at or near the top nationwide. Below is a snapshot of key tax rates: 

#1: Overall State & Local Tax Burden (2024) – 16.51%

#1: Cell Phone/Wireless Taxes (2024) – 33.80%

#2: Property Taxes (2024) – 1.95%

#2: Gasoline Taxes (2024) – 66.5 cents/gallon

#2: Corporate Income Tax (2024) – 9.50%

#4: Car Sales Tax Rate (2024) – 7.30%

#7: State & Average Local Sales Tax (2024) – 8.85%

Now, according to Americans For Prosperity, Springfield lawmakers are trying to create an expansive new category of services taxes at the highest rate in the country.

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Let's Take A Look At What Illinois Lawmakers Are Trying To Push Through Before They Take Their Summer Break

According to a piece at IllinoisPolicy.org, lawmakers are in stealth mode trying to get all these taxes into place, saying that the money is needed to solve Chicago’s Regional Transit Authority fiscal crisis.

Here are just a few of the services they'd love to start taxing you on, says IllinoisPolicy:

Netflix and streaming services.
Rideshare services such as Über and Lyft.
Gym memberships.
Barbershops and beauty salons.
Car washes and car repair.
Plumbing, electrical and other repair.
Lawn care and landscaping.

Oh, that's not all. There's a lot more to it than just those listed above. Over 80 service tax-hike categories are on the list. This might take you some scrolling, but here they all are, courtesy of StopILServiceTax.com:

Alteration and garment repair
Armored car services
Bank & financial institution service charges
Barber and beauty services
Battery, tire, and allied services
Boat repair
Camera repair
Campgrounds
Carpentry repair and installation
Carpet, rug, and upholstery cleaning or repair
Communication services
Dance schools and studios
Dating services
Demolition
Dry cleaning, pressing, dyeing, laundering 
Electrical & electronic repair or installation
Employment and executive search agencies
Excavating and grading
Extermination services
Farm implement repair of all kinds
Flying service and flight instruction
Furniture repair and cleaning
Fur storage and repair
Garbage collection & disposal (nonresidential commercial)
Golf & country club dues and other commercial recreation fees
Gun repair
House & building moving
Household appliance, TV, and radio repair
Investment counseling
Information services
Janitorial & nonresidential building maintenance/cleaning
Jewelry and watch repair
Landscaping, lawn care, tree trimming & removal
Machine operator fees
Machine repair of all kinds
Massages (unless by a licensed massage therapist)
Mini storage
Motor repair
Motor vehicle, RV, and recreational boat rental (without driver)
Motorcycle, scooter, and bicycle repair
Oilers & lubricators (vehicles and machines)
Office & business machine repair
Painting, papering, interior decorating
Parking facilities
Pay television (incl. streaming, VOD, pay per view)
Personal transportation services
Pet grooming
Photography & photo retouching services
Pipe fitting
Plumbing (incl. drain cleaning, pipe unplugging)
Reflexology
Retouching photographs
Roof, shingle, and glass repair
Security & detective services
Sewage services 
Sewing and stitching
Shoe repair and shoeshine
Sign construction and installation
Services related to installing/maintaining/upgrading specified digital products
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Storage warehouses/lockers for raw agricultural products
Storage of household goods
Storage of tangible or electronic files/documents/records
Swimming pool cleaning and maintenance
Tanning beds or salons
Taxidermy
Telecommunication services
Telephone answering services
Testing laboratories (excludes human, animal, environmental tests)
Tin and sheet metal repair
Tree trimming and removal
Turkish baths & reducing salons
Vehicle repair
Vehicle wash and wax
Video game services and tournaments
Water conditioning and softening
Weighing
Welding
Well drilling (repair only)
Wood preparation (stripping, cleaning, sealing)
Wrapping, packing, packaging of merchandise (except processed meats/fish/fowl/vegetables)
Wrecker and towing

Unless you really like what you're seeing here, you might want to consider reaching out to your state lawmakers and let them know that you'd like them to knock this off.