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The Illinois Two-Step: Final Sales Tax Sourcing Regulations May Cause Sales to be Sourced outside the State

Localities expecting more tax dollars due to the elimination of the controversial order acceptance test may be sorely disappointed.  Application of the final sales tax sourcing regulations, effective as of June 25, 2014 (see 38 Ill. Reg. 14292), may actually increase the number of sales that are sourced outside of the state, such that more sales are subject to the 6.25 percent Use Tax rate instead of the higher Retailers’ Occupation Tax rates that include additional local rates.

Background: Moving from a Test Favoring In-State Sourcing to a Neutral Approach

In previous posts we provided the background on the litigation and policy factors driving this new regulation. See Illinois Department of Revenue Intends to Extend Its Multifactor Post-Hartney Sourcing Regulations to Interstate Transactions; Illinois Regional Transportation Authority Suffers A Setback In Its Sales Tax Sourcing Litigation. Suffice it to say that Illinois sales tax sourcing has been a contentious issue. But Illinois local government units may now find that the revenue impact of these new regulations is worse that the sourcing issues that they attempt to cure: Where the previous regime had tended to source sales to Illinois if part of the retailing activity occurred in the state, the new regulations treat in-state and out-of-state locations equally and attempt to source sales to the location with the best claim on the retailing activity.

Step One: Can a Location Claim at Least Three of Five Primary Selling Activities?

The first part of the test looks to five primary selling activities. If at least three of the primary selling activities occur in one business location, then the sales are sourced to that location. See 86 Ill. Admin. Code 220.115(c)(1), (2). (Note: These sourcing regulations are codified in parallel under several chapters of the Illinois Administrative Code. See 86 Ill. Admin. Code 220.115, 270.115, 320.115, 370.115, 395,115, 630.120, 670.115, 690.115, 693.115, 695.115. For convenience we will cite to 86 Ill. Admin. Code 220.115, but parallel provisions exist in the other regulations.) The primary activity factors are as follows:

Broadly speaking, the primary selling activities would likely result in headquarters-based sourcing as long as the business has a centralized headquarters with personnel that have the authority to bind the seller and personnel issuing invoices and processing payments. Additionally, there appears to be an overlap between the first two activities: If salespersons have authority to bind the retailer to a sale, then it would seem that the second factor, where the binding action takes place, would also be implicated.

Step Two: If No Location Has a Majority of Primary Selling Activities, then the Headquarters and Inventory Locations Compete for Sourcing Based on Primary and Secondary Factors

Assuming that no single location can claim three primary selling activities, the test then turns to the second step, in which both primary and secondary selling activities are considered in determining whether the sales should be sourced to the headquarters location or the inventory [...]

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Illinois Appellate Court’s Expansive Interpretation of a Taxing Ordinance Swallows a Sale for Resale Exemption

The First District of the Illinois Appellate Court, in Ford Motor Company v. Chicago Department of Revenue, 2014 IL App (1st) 130597 (June 27, 2014), recently held that Ford Motor Company (Ford) owes City of Chicago vehicle fuel tax on 100 percent of the fuel it purchased and dispensed into the tanks of cars it manufactured in Chicago, even though Ford offered proof that 98 percent of the fuel was resold to car dealerships around that nation.

The court relied on the language of the taxing ordinance, which imposes tax on the “privilege of purchasing or using, in the City of Chicago, vehicle fuel purchased in a sale at retail.”  The court, focusing only on the first portion of that provision, found Ford “used” the fuel in Chicago, on the basis that “use” is defined to include “dispensing fuel into a vehicle’s fuel tank,” an activity Ford did when it transferred fuel from its storage tanks into the tanks of the cars it manufactured.

For the “sale at retail” element, defined as “any sale to a person for that person’s use or consumption and not for resale to another,” the court rejected Ford’s argument that it resold 98 percent of its purchased fuel to dealerships on the basis that Ford had introduced insufficient proof.  The court disregarded Ford’s sample invoice that included a line item charge for 10 gallons of fuel because a supporting affidavit from Ford did not confirm that the invoiced amount was the amount actually in the tank of that specific car at the time of delivery.  The court then, somewhat presumptively, inferred that the invoiced amount must be the amount that Ford initially dispensed into the car, before consuming some fuel during delivery, so that “the amount invoiced was to reimburse Ford Motor Company for fuel that it purchased and used to produce and prepare its new cars for delivery. …”  Additionally, the court considered Ford’s failure to rebut the City’s evidence that no Ford dealership in Chicago had remitted fuel tax consistent with the conclusion that Ford was not reselling fuel; the court did not cite any authority for the proposition that subsequent tax collection is a necessary element of the statutory “resale” provision.

Ford also raised constitutional concerns that were not considered very seriously by the court.  For example, was there sufficient nexus between the City and Ford’s use of the fuel placed into cars it transferred to dealerships?  Moreover, the court did not consider the conceptual tax issue of pyramiding, as the ultimate vehicle purchaser will presumably pay tax (in almost all locations in the country) on the full price paid for the vehicle, which will cover the cost of the fuel.  In any event, by focusing on the “use” and not the “resale” aspect of the taxing ordinance, the court fails to consider that the ordinance may not apply to Ford at all.




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If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again: Illinois General Assembly Sends Revised Version of Click-Through Nexus Law to the Governor for Signature

In 2011, Illinois became one of the first states to follow New York’s lead by enacting “click-through nexus” legislation.  The Illinois law created nexus for any out-of-state retailer that contracted with a person in Illinois who displayed a link on his, her or its website that had the ability to connect an Internet user to the remote retailer’s website, when those referrals generated over $10,000 per year in sales.  Pub. Act 96-1544, §§5, 10 (eff. Mar. 10, 2011) (codified at 35 ILCS 105/2(1.1) and 35 ILCS 110/2(1.1) (West 2010).  On October 13, 2013, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the click-through nexus law violated the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) by imposing a discriminatory tax on electronic commerce.  Performance Marketing Ass’n v. Hamer, 2013 IL 114496.  The court held that the statute unlawfully discriminated against Internet retailers by imposing a use tax collection obligation based only on Internet referrals but not on print or over-the-air broadcasting referrals.  The court did not reach the question whether the law also violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution (although the trial court had also rejected the law on this basis).

In its recently completed Spring 2014 legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly approved an amendment to the click-through law that was designed to correct the deficiencies found by the Illinois Supreme Court.  SB0352 (the Bill).  The Bill expands the definition of a “retailer maintaining a place of business in this State” under the Illinois Use Tax and Service Occupation Tax Acts (Acts) to include retailers who contract with Illinois persons who refer potential customers to the retailer by providing a promotional code or other mechanism that allows the retailer to track purchases referred by the person (referring activities).  The referring activities can include an Internet link, a promotional code distributed through hand-delivered or mailed material or promotional codes distributed by persons through broadcast media.  The Bill goes on to provide that retailers can rebut the presumption of nexus created by the use of promotional codes or other tracking mechanisms by submitting proof that the referring activities are not sufficient to meet the nexus standards of the United States Constitution.  Presumably, under the principles of Scripto and Tyler, if a remote seller can demonstrate that the Illinois referrals are not “significantly associated” with its ability to “establish or maintain” the Illinois market, the presumption will be rebutted.

As amended, the Bill appears to address the ITFA concerns expressed by the Illinois Supreme Court by not singling out internet-type referrals.  It also attempts to resolve any due process constitutional concerns by providing an opportunity for retailers to rebut the presumption of nexus created by their use of referring activities.  The Bill was sent to the Illinois governor for signature on June 27.  The Bill will take immediate effect upon becoming law.

At present, four other states (Georgia, Kansas, Maine and Missouri) have click-through nexus laws that expressly extend the presumption of nexus to non-Internet based referring activities.  [...]

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Illinois Department of Revenue Intends to Extend Its Multifactor Post-Hartney Sourcing Regulations to Interstate Transactions

The saga over local sourcing of Illinois retailers’ occupation taxes is well known. The Illinois Department of Revenue has a dedicated webpage for the issue, and Inside SALT covered some of the litigation aspects last month (see Illinois Regional Transportation Authority Suffers A Setback In Its Sales Tax Sourcing Litigation).  A new chapter is unfolding now, with revised proposed local sourcing rules that would apply a multifactor sourcing analysis to both intrastate and interstate sales. The regulations may be made final as soon as next month, and retailers with complex retailing processes should consider how the rules could apply to their operations.

Background: The Illinois Department of Revenue Issued Emergency and Proposed Local Tax Sourcing Regulations after the Supreme Court of Illinois Invalidated Its Old Rules in Hartney

Illinois has perhaps the most complex sales and use tax system in the country. One driver of this complexity is the fact that the Retailers’ Occupation functions as a sales tax but is really an occupation tax measured by gross receipts – the tax imposed is on the privilege of engaging in the occupation of being a retailer. Illinois lets some local jurisdictions impose additional Retailers’ Occupation Taxes, and so the effective local rate can climb higher than the 6.25 percent statewide base rate, e.g., the 9.25 percent rate applicable in Chicago. As the tax is imposed on the business occupation rather than the sale itself, origin-based sourcing principles apply. And for out-of-state sales shipped into Illinois and not subject to Retailers’ Occupation Tax, retailers have only a use tax collection obligation at the 6.25 percent state rate.

For decades, the Department of Revenue’s regulations applied a bright-line test based on order acceptance to determine where the taxable retailing activity had occurred for local Retailers’ Occupation Tax sourcing purposes. Some taxpayers structured their operations in reliance on this approach. But the Supreme Court of Illinois struck down the bright-line order acceptance test in Hartney Fuel Oil Co. v. Hamer, 2013 IL 115130 (Nov. 21, 2013), holding that an evaluation of all the retailing activities was necessary to determine where the retailing occupation occurred and consequently to which local Retailers’ Occupation Taxes a transaction was subject. The old local tax sourcing regulations were invalidated.

After Hartney, the Department promulgated new emergency local tax sourcing rules, effective January 22, 2014 (see the Department of Revenue press release, letter to Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, sample rule text). The emergency rules also served as a framework for the initial proposed final rules. These emergency and initial proposed final rules applied to intrastate tax sourcing and did not affect the Department’s longstanding rule governing whether a transaction was subject to in-state Retailers’ Occupation Tax or merely an out-of-state use tax collection obligation, 86 Ill. Admin. Code 130.610.

The Newly Revised Proposed Regulations Generally Consider Five Primary Factors in Determining the Location of the Taxable Retailing Activity

After consulting stakeholders and receiving numerous comments, the Department substantially revised [...]

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The S.B. 3324 Self-Procurement Tax: No More “Home State” Advantage for Illinois Industrial Insureds?

Illinois Senate Bill 3324, an insurance bill that would impose a premium tax on Illinois companies obtaining unauthorized insurance, has passed the General Assembly and is awaiting Governor Quinn’s signature. If signed into law, the bill will have a significant negative impact on captive insurance and any other unadmitted insurance arrangements used by businesses with a home state of Illinois.  Such companies will be taxed on 3.5 percent of their premiums paid on unadmitted policies effective January 1, 2015, and thereafter.

The Favorable Status Quo for Illinois “Industrial” Insureds under the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA)

A state’s premium tax structure typically has three components:

  1. A tax on the premiums received by insurers that are admitted to transact insurance and are regulated by the state;
  2. A tax on the premiums received by surplus lines brokers (typically at a higher rate than the premium tax for admitted insurers); and
  3. A tax on the premiums paid by insureds who obtain their own insurance from unauthorized insurers (sometimes called a self-procured insurance tax), often at the same rate as the surplus lines tax.

Until now, Illinois has not taxed self-procured insurance.  Illinois traditionally has allowed “industrial insureds” – companies meeting certain thresholds of size and sophistication – to obtain coverage from non-admitted insurers without violating the prohibition against the unauthorized transaction of insurance in the state (see 215 ILCS 5/121-2 (prohibiting transacting insurance without a certificate of authority), 121-2.08 (excepting transactions with “industrial insureds” and defining the term)) and without the imposition of premium tax.

This exception became particularly beneficial to companies headquartered in Illinois after the enactment of the NRRA, which was part of the Dodd-Frank Act. See P.L. 111-203, tit. V, §§ 521-527, 124 Stat. 1589 (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 8201 et seq.). The NRRA provides that “[n]o State other than the home State of an insured may require any premium tax payment for nonadmitted insurance.” 15 U.S.C. § 8201(a). The “home state” is generally a company’s principal place of business. See 15 U.S.C. § 8206(6) (a detailed discussion of the definition of “home state” is beyond the scope of this post). With the enactment of the NRRA, companies having Illinois as their “home state” have experienced a significant savings:  If they qualify as industrial insureds, they effectively can obtain unauthorized insurance coverage of their nationwide risks without paying any state premium tax, as Illinois doesn’t impose a premium tax and other states are precluded from collecting tax from non “home state” companies.

S.B. 3324 Would Impose a 3.5 percent Tax on Premiums Paid by Illinois Industrial Insureds

S.B. 3324 would end this happy state of affairs. It amends 215 ILCS 5/121-2.08 to require industrial insureds to pay tax at the 3.5 percent of premiums rate that is applicable to surplus lines transactions (imposed at 215 ILCS 5/445(3)(a)(ii)).  The adverse impact of the tax could be significant, particularly for Illinois home state industrial insureds with captive insurance [...]

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Retailers Caught in the Middle: To Tax or Not to Tax Delivery Fees

Over the past decade we have seen a large increase in the number of third party tax enforcement claims against retailers involving transaction taxes (see Multistate Tax Commission Memorandum regarding survey of class action refund claims and false action claims, dated July 12, 2013, describing such actions).  The lawsuits typically are brought either as proposed class actions, alleging an over-collection of tax, or as whistleblower claims on behalf of state governments, alleging a fraudulent under-collection of tax owed to the state or municipality.  With respect to certain issues, including shipping and handling charges, retailers have been whipsawed with lawsuits alleging both under- and over-collection of tax.

On April 3, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed in Florida alleging that Papa John’s Pizza was improperly collecting tax on its delivery fees (Schojan v. Papa John’s International, Inc., No. 14-CA-003491 (Circuit Court Hillsboro County, Florida)).  The lawsuit is similar to an action filed in Illinois that resulted in an Illinois Supreme Court ruling rejecting a proposed class action claim that a retailer was improperly collecting tax on its shipping charges (Kean v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 919 N.E.2d 926 (Illinois 2009)).

Both Florida and Illinois impose sales tax on services that are inseparably linked to the sale of tangible personal property (see, e.g., 86 Ill. Admin. Code § 130.415(b) & Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 12A-1.045(2)).  The regulations provide that whether a customer has separately contracted for shipping charges, or has an option to avoid shipping charges by picking up the property at the retailer’s location, can be used as a proxy to determine whether the services are separate and thus not taxable (86 Ill. Admin. Code § 130.415(d); Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 12A-1.045(4)(a), (b)).

In Kean, the Illinois Supreme Court held that shipping charges were a taxable part of an internet sale in which the customer had no option but to pay shipping charges.  After the ruling, the Illinois Department of Revenue made no announced change to its commonly understood audit position that sales tax was not owed on separately stated shipping charges that were assessed at a retailer’s actual cost.

Seeking to capitalize on the Kean ruling, an Illinois law firm has filed upwards of 150 lawsuits under the Illinois False Claims Act against retailers that do not collect tax on the shipping and handling charges associated with their internet sales, alleging an intentional failure to collect tax and seeking treble damages, attorneys’ fees and associated penalties.  The suits were filed without regard to whether the retailers had been audited and found not to owe tax on their shipping and handling charges.  The State has declined to intervene in the majority of these cases, permitting the Relator to proceed with the prosecution.  Because the amounts at issue are small (6.25 percent tax on shipping and handling charges), the lawsuits force many retailers to choose between paying an (entirely undeserved) settlement to resolve the litigation or bearing the expense of litigation.  For reasons not entirely clear, the Illinois General Assembly [...]

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Illinois Legislative Tax Policy Subcommittees Issue Joint Report on Findings

On May 28, 2014, the Tax Policy Subcommittees of the Illinois General Assembly’s Joint Revenue and Finance and State Government Administration Committees (Subcommittees) issued their long-awaited Report on Findings regarding the State of Illinois (Report).  The Report was generated after months of hearings and solicitation of written comments from interested parties with respect to Illinois tax rates, tax incentives and tax policy issues.

The Report is chock full of facts and figures.  Unfortunately, it fails to offer much clear direction for the state, as the members of the Subcommittees were unable to agree on the majority of the issues considered.  For example, the Report provides that the state should “continue to explore” the question of whether Illinois should apply the sales tax to services, as do many surrounding states.  Similarly, the Report concludes that while most members of the Subcommittees believe that the corporate income tax rate should be reduced, they could not agree on the amount of the reduction, what corresponding cuts in state spending would offset such a reduction, or even whether the Illinois personal property replacement tax should be considered as part of the corporate income tax rate when comparing Illinois’ income tax rates to those of other states.  The Report also concludes that the Subcommittees are “strongly interested” in providing sales tax exemptions to customers who provide data centers in Illinois, but has not come to a consensus about how to move forward with that process.  The Subcommittees also failed to reach a consensus regarding any changes needed to the Economic Development for a Growing Economy credit, instead offering only the platitude that “it is imperative to ensure that Illinois remains competitive in today’s economy.”

The Report does, however, contain the following findings:

  1. In its most definitive finding, the Report recommends the elimination of the Illinois franchise tax.  No specific plan or timetable is put forward for the elimination of this tax.
  2. The Report concludes that Illinois’ eligibility criteria for the research and development (R&D) tax credit should be changed to match the federal requirements.  For instance, the federal alternative simplified R&D credit would require that R&D spending exceed 50 percent (instead of 100 percent) of the previous three year average.
  3. The Report concludes that initial filing fees for LLCs should be reduced.  No consensus was reached regarding the amount of the reduction.
  4. The Report recommends that the state streamline current processes by designating a point person to help businesses seeking the state’s help with respect to job creation, retention and relocation in Illinois.

In what appears to be an effort to boost the state’s image in the business community, the Report also references a number of favorable statements about Illinois’ business climate that the Report attributes to various business publications.  The Report touts that Illinois ranks third in corporate expansions, according to Site Selection Magazine, that Illinois was identified as among the top five states for “technology and innovation” and “infrastructure” according to CNBC Top States for Business 2013 [...]

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Illinois Regional Transportation Authority Suffers A Setback In Its Sales Tax Sourcing Litigation

Illinois’ order acceptance rule for sourcing local sales taxes has spurred litigation and endless confusion. The wide differential between local tax rates has encouraged shoppers and retailers to transact business in lower rate jurisdictions – everything from drivers heading across the county line to fill their gas tanks to huge retailers establishing order acceptance facilities in low tax rate jurisdictions. The Illinois Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has aggressively pursued claims against municipalities and retailers it asserts have violated local sourcing rules.  Recently, the RTA suffered a serious setback in its widely publicized effort to retroactively change the rules on order acceptance.

For decades, the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) administered local sales taxes so that the sole factor governing the applicable tax rate was the point at which a retailer accepted a purchase order. This “order acceptance” rule was clear and understandable, and supported by IDOR letter rulings.  Some retailers obtained IDOR approval to source their sales to a low rate local jurisdiction where a single employee physically received the buyer’s executed counterpart of the retailer’s offer to sell. In addition, a number of retailers entered into contracts with municipalities in which the municipalities agreed to rebate part of their share of the resulting local tax back to the retailers.

About 10 years ago, the IDOR began backing away from its strict order acceptance rule. Its backtracking eventually led to the Illinois Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hartney Fuel Oil.  In Hartney, the Supreme Court rejected the IDOR’s single factor order acceptance test as inconsistent with the underlying statute.  The court also held, however, that taxpayers who had relied on the old rule were not liable for transactions occurring before the court’s November 2014 ruling. The court also found that retailers had a legitimate purpose to establish offices to accept orders in low rate jurisdictions solely for the purpose of controlling the tax rate.

While the Hartney case progressed through the court system, the RTA and other local governments began both a public relations campaign and litigation challenging a number of tax sourcing arrangements. One of the leading cases is the RTA’s challenge to United Airlines’ contract to have its purchase orders for aviation fuel accepted in Sycamore, a city outside the RTA’s taxing jurisdiction. The contract called for Sycamore to rebate a portion of the local tax it received back to United.  The RTA sued both the City of Sycamore and United under the theory that the fuel sales should be relocated so that they would be subject to the RTA’s taxing power. It claimed that the Sycamore office was a “sham” and sought millions in additional tax.

On April 25, 2014, the Circuit Court of Cook County found that the Hartney ruling meant that United and its affiliates were “legally entitled to… structure their sales so that acceptance of purchase orders occurred in Sycamore and they would owe no RTA retail occupation taxes.” The court rejected the RTA’s theory that [...]

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Illinois Clarifies Treatment of Corporate Income Refunds in the Calculation of Retaliatory Tax

Illinois is one of a small number of states that impose both an income tax and a premium tax on insurance companies.  Disputes have arisen between insurers and the Illinois Department of Insurance (Department) regarding the proper treatment of income tax refunds in the calculation of retaliatory tax.  The dispute typically concerns whether an income tax refund should be included in the Illinois Basis of an insurer’s retaliatory tax computation for the year in which the income tax refund is paid or in the Illinois Basis for retaliatory tax computation for the tax year to which the refund relates.  The Department has taken the position that the income tax refund must be applied to Illinois Basis for the year in which the refund is paid, based on language of a Departmental regulation (50 Ill. Adm. Code Sec. 2515.50(b)) providing that Illinois Basis used to compute retaliatory tax must include “the amount of Illinois corporate and replacement income tax paid, decreased by the amount, if any, of any corporate and/or income replacement tax cash refund received in the same calendar year if that cash refund has been considered part of the Illinois corporate and replacement income tax paid in the calculation of the annual retaliatory tax in a preceding year.” (50 Ill. Adm. Code Sec. 2515.50(b)(5)) (emphasis added).

On March 3, 2014, the Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District issued an unpublished ruling in which it found that 50 Ill. Admin. Code Sec. 2515.50(b) was invalid because it conflicted with the state’s mandate that the retaliatory tax include corporate income tax imposed, not paid, in a particular year.  The opinion authorized the taxpayers who challenged the Department’s interpretation to calculate their retaliatory tax by applying their corporate income tax refund to the tax year to which the refund related, regardless of the year in which it was paid.

In its opinion, the appellate court twice noted that if the Department’s interpretation had been upheld, the taxpayers would have been required to pay more retaliatory taxes than they would have originally owed simply because they initially overpaid their corporate income tax.  This point of equity appears to have been a strong supporting factor for the appellate court in its decision to invalidate the regulation.  United States Liability Ins. Co., et al v. The Department of Insurance, 2014 IL App. (4th) 121125-U (March 3, 2014) (Opinion issued pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23).




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Illinois Trust Taxation Deemed Unconstitutional

In Linn v. Department of Revenue, the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court reviewed the state’s statutory framework for taxing trusts.  Linn v. Department of Revenue, 2013 Il App (4th) 121055.  On constitutional grounds, the court limited Illinois’ power to impose taxes under its “once subject to tax, forever subject to tax” regime.

This case creates planning opportunities to minimize Illinois income taxes.  However, it should be noted that the Linn case applies to trusts that pay Illinois income tax on trust dividends, interest, capital gains or other income retained by the trust and not distributed to a beneficiary.  This case does not apply to income distributed to an Illinois beneficiary; that income clearly can be taxed by Illinois.

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