Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County board president, said businesses should not have to worry about tax collection when trying to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County board president, said businesses should not have to worry about tax collection when trying to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Business owners in Cook County recently learned they will get “room to breathe.”
“The (coronavirus) pandemic is not only a public health crisis, but also an economic, financial crisis,” Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County board president, said during a press conference. “We hope this can provide some breathing room for businesses that are struggling. We recognize that you are worried about rents, about payroll, about mounting bills—you should not be worried that the tax collector is coming after you as well.”
The relief plan could free up to $35 million, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cook County has given businesses a tax relief during the COVID-19 crisis.
Owners will not have to worry about the county’s Home Rules tax until May and there won’t be any penalties or interest due, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Amusement, tobacco, alcoholic beverage, hotel accommodations and gasoline taxes are all subject to Home Rules tax. Consumers will still pay tax on these purchases but the businesses won’t have to forward the tax revenue from February and March to the county until May.
Additionally, some fines and fees due to various state departments and agencies, including the Departments of Transportation and Highways, won’t need to be paid until late summer, reported the Chicago Sun-Times.
Tanya Triche Dawood, vice president and general counsel of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, told the newspaper that the plan was “a wonderful example of how local governments can be a great source of help to business owners, at a critical time of need.”
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