Tax Attorney in Illinois

Yes. Illinois imposes a flat 4.95% personal income tax on net income under 35 ILCS 5/201, effective since July 1, 2017. Illinois corporations pay a combined 9.5% rate — 7% income tax plus a 2.5% Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) authorized by the Illinois Constitution to replace revenue lost when the state abolished the property tax on business personal property in 1979. Trusts and estates pay the 4.95% rate. The flat-rate structure (no progressive brackets) was preserved when the 2020 graduated-income-tax constitutional amendment failed at the ballot.

The U.S. Tax Court holds permanent-courtroom trial sessions in Chicago at the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building, 230 S Dearborn Street, Room 3908. Peoria is designated as a place of trial for small tax cases only (under $50,000 per year per IRC §7463) and uses rented facilities when a session is scheduled. A petitioner designates the preferred place of trial on the petition under Tax Court Rule 140. Chicagoland and northern Illinois petitioners typically pick Chicago; central and downstate petitioners with a small-tax-case sometimes pick Peoria for proximity. There is no Tax Court venue in Springfield or Rockford; cases from those areas route to Chicago or Peoria.

Under 35 ILCS 5/905 (Illinois Income Tax Act), IDOR generally has three years from the later of the return's due date or filing date to assess a deficiency, extended to six years for substantial omissions and unlimited for fraud or unfiled returns. After assessment, the Illinois collection period under 35 ILCS 735/3-2 runs 20 years from the date a final assessment becomes due — double the federal IRS Collection Statute Expiration Date of 10 years under IRC §6502. The two clocks run independently, so a 2010 federal assessment may be uncollectible federally by 2025 while the Illinois balance from the same year remains collectible until 2030.

Yes. The IRS audits federal income tax, federal employment tax, and federal excise tax. The Illinois Department of Revenue audits state income tax, withholding, sales and use (Retailers' Occupation Tax), and other state-administered taxes. The two agencies share information under federal-state information-exchange agreements, so an IRS adjustment to federal adjusted gross income typically triggers an automatic IL-1040 recalculation through IDOR's matching program. An Illinois taxpayer can face an IRS Form 1040 audit and an IDOR IL-1040 desk audit on the same year, and the Chicago Department of Finance can layer in a city-tax audit on top for business taxpayers.

Yes. The Illinois Department of Revenue operates a Board of Appeals process for settlement of tax liabilities under 35 ILCS 5/910 and 35 ILCS 120/12. The Board may accept less than the full amount where collectibility is in doubt, where the assessment is legally questionable, or where serious hardship exists. The Illinois program is narrower than the federal IRS OIC under IRC §7122 and historically has lower acceptance volume, but it does provide a real settlement pathway for state-tax balances. Penalty waivers under 35 ILCS 735/3-8 (Uniform Penalty and Interest Act) for reasonable cause are administered separately.

The Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal was created under 35 ILCS 1010 (Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal Act of 2012) as a separate judicial-style forum to hear state-tax disputes — modeled directly on the U.S. Tax Court. Jurisdiction is conferred when IDOR issues a Notice of Deficiency, Notice of Tax Liability, Notice of Claim Denial, or Notice of Penalty Liability and the aggregate amount in dispute for a tax year or audit period exceeds $15,000, exclusive of interest and penalties. Most Illinois states route audits through executive-branch hearings officers; Illinois is one of the few with a truly independent tax tribunal. Below $15,000, the matter is heard by the IDOR Office of Administrative Hearings.

Your CSED is calculated from the date of assessment, which appears on your IRS Account Transcript as Transaction Code 150 (return filed) or Transaction Code 290 (additional assessment). Add ten years, then add days for tolling events: pending OICs, CDP hearings, bankruptcy stays, Innocent Spouse claims, and continuous absence from the U.S. of six months or more. The IRS publishes the CSED date internally on its CC ACTRA transcript; we pull this for clients as part of every engagement. A debt assessed in 2016 may be approaching expiration in 2026, and aggressive IRS enforcement near the CSED is common. Illinois state collection runs a separate 20-year clock that should be tracked alongside.

Probably yes, both federally and on the Illinois side. IRC §6672 assesses the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against any "responsible person" who "willfully" failed to pay over withheld FICA and federal income-tax withholding — not the employer's share. The IRS conducts a Form 4180 interview to identify responsible persons. Anyone with check-signing authority, payroll-decision authority, or knowledge of the unpaid taxes can be assessed. On the Illinois side, 35 ILCS 735/3-7 imposes parallel personal liability for unpaid IL-941 withholding, and 35 ILCS 120/13.5 imposes responsible-person liability for unpaid Illinois sales tax. Both state and federal liability can stack on a single Chicago restaurant or service-business owner.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" federal tax debt — currently $62,000 for 2026, indexed for inflation — to the State Department, which may then deny passport renewal or revoke an active passport. The certification reverses when the debt is paid, an IA is in place, an accepted OIC is in force, a timely CDP hearing is pending, or Innocent Spouse Relief is in process. For Chicago professionals who travel internationally — consulting partners at downtown firms, commodities traders at the CME and CBOT, academic researchers across Illinois universities, and corporate counsel at multinational firms — decertification is often urgent. The IRS reverses certification within 30 days of the qualifying event.

Federal tax-resolution fees vary by matter complexity. A straightforward Installment Agreement typically falls between $1,500 and $3,500. A full Offer in Compromise with Form 433 financial analysis runs $4,000 to $7,500. Audit defense depends on audit type and the number of issues. A U.S. Tax Court petition with case workup and trial preparation in Chicago generally starts at $6,000 and rises with complexity. VTL provides a written fee quote after the free consultation. Cal Bar Rule 7.1 prohibits comparisons claiming we are cheaper or faster than competitors without verifiable substantiation, so we do not market on price.

Yes. Communications between you and a licensed attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice are protected by federal common-law attorney-client privilege, subject to the usual exceptions (crime-fraud, waiver, etc.). The narrower federally-authorized tax practitioner privilege under IRC §7525 applies to non-attorney CPAs and EAs but does not extend to criminal-tax matters. An attorney handling your tax case retains the broader privilege that survives a criminal investigation. Illinois recognizes attorney-client privilege under Illinois Supreme Court Rule of Evidence 502 in state proceedings.

A Tax Court trial is a bench trial — no jury — before a Judge or Special Trial Judge of the U.S. Tax Court at the Kluczynski Federal Building. The session opens with a calendar call where the Court hears scheduling issues. Most cases on the calendar settle before trial; the IRS Office of Chief Counsel attorney for the case meets with petitioner's counsel during the days before trial. If trial proceeds, the petitioner bears the burden of proof on most issues, presents evidence and witness testimony, and the Court issues a written opinion typically within several months of trial. Small-tax-case procedure under IRC §7463 applies to deficiencies of $50,000 or less per year and uses a simplified evidentiary standard.

Yes, generally. IRC §6331(k)(1) suspends levy action while an offer is pending and for 30 days after a rejection, and during any timely-filed Appeals review of a rejection. The IRS will not levy on you while a processable OIC is being evaluated. However, the IRS may still file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien with the Cook County Recorder (or your home-county recorder) during the OIC pendency to protect its position. CSED is also tolled during pendency. A poorly-prepared OIC that gets returned (not rejected) does not provide the same protection — processability matters.

For an Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal proceeding, attorneys appearing must be admitted to practice law in Illinois (35 ILCS 1010/1-50), so an Illinois-licensed attorney is required. For Chicago Department of Finance administrative hearings, the Municipal Code permits authorized representation including attorneys, accountants, and other authorized agents under the specific tax ordinance. For judicial review in Cook County Circuit Court, an Illinois-admitted attorney is required. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping matters and coordinates with Illinois counsel where Tribunal or Circuit Court litigation is necessary. Many state-tax disputes resolve at the IDOR audit stage without ever reaching the Tribunal.