Did you know that the University of Illinois System is exempt from sales and use taxes when purchasing goods and/or services for official system business within the State of Illinois? See below for further details: - Since the system is a state agency and was formed for educational purposes, the Illinois Department of Revenue has issued the system a sales tax exemption certificate.
- Thus, employees purchasing goods and/or services for system use should not pay sales or use tax on those purchases. Purchases for business meals, alcohol (for system events), and gifts for employees (e.g., holiday and retirement gifts) are also exempt from sales and use taxes in Illinois.
- Units that fail to properly use the system’s tax-exempt status may be asked to provide justification (and potentially reimbursement or a credit from the vendor) for taxes that were mistakenly paid.
- The sales tax exemption certificate can be located under the State of Illinois Sales Tax Exemption Certificate heading within Section 18.6 of the Business and Financial Policies and Procedures. You are allowed to show this certificate as proof to a vendor if the sales tax exemption is ever questioned.
- Also, keep in mind that vendors are not required to accept our exemption. If this occurs, departments need to properly document the scenario for audit trail purposes.
- The system has acquired sales and use tax exemptions in some other states as well. See the information under the Purchases from Other States heading within Section 18.6 of the Business and Financial Policies and Procedures for further details.
Contact
For further details, feel free to reach out to one of our applicable subject matter experts by searching on “Tax” within the Business and Finance Who to Ask list. In addition, the Tax Compliance and Analysis office is another great resource that can provide further details if needed. They can be reached by calling (217) 244-8359. |
