Dear Dusan,

Today I have signed House Bill 3659, which requires all companies doing business in Illinois to collect and remit legally required sales taxes.

House Bill 3659, The Main Street Fairness Bill, was a bipartisan initiative that passed both houses of the General Assembly with overwhelming support. This law will require all online retailers who connect with an affiliate in Illinois to collect sales tax on customer purchases and remit it to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). Illinois currently collects sales tax revenue from the more than 20,000 retailers with physical locations in the state, including online and catalog sales from these vendors.

Illinois’ main street businesses are critical to ensuring our long-term economic stability, which is why they must be able to compete with every company doing business online in Illinois. This law will put Illinois-based businesses on a level playing field, protect and create jobs and help us continue to grow in the global marketplace.

Per my request, the Alliance of Main Street Fairness (AMSF) has begun a website (www.standwithmainstreet.com) to help Illinois affiliates expand their customer bases. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) will partner with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and AMSF to provide growth opportunities, foster an environment to create more Illinois jobs and provide online shopping consumers with greater opportunities to save money.

Thank you for reaching out to me on this matter. Please feel free to contact me in the future with your questions. My office phone number is (217) 782-0244 or (312) 914-2121.

Sincerely,

Pat Quinn
Governor

Now, why didn't they partner before they did this?