With Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signing House Bill 2755 on June 16, 2025 and the subsequent updates from the Illinois Department of Revenue, the fall of 2025 brings new opportunities for individuals and businesses to resolve past tax liabilities through limited time amnesty programs. Beginning October 1, 2025, a general tax amnesty program and a franchise tax amnesty program will be offered. These programs provide eligible taxpayers with a rare and valuable opportunity to pay unpaid or unfiled taxes and have the burden of penalties and interest waived.
General Tax Amnesty Program
The general Tax Amnesty Program will provide taxpayers with an opportunity to pay outstanding eligible tax liabilities and have eligible penalties and interest forgiven on taxes paid in full during the amnesty period.
The Illinois Department of Revenue will run the program from October 1, 2025 through November 17, 2024. Many Illinois tax debts owed between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2024 are eligible. If all required returns are filed and full payment is made during the amnesty window, all penalties and interest will be waived.
The program does not apply if only penalty and interest are owed. There are some exclusions to the Amnesty Program, including:
- Taxes not collected by IDOR (e.g., property, estate, franchise, and insurance taxes, and local taxes paid directly to the local government);
- Any outside the eligible window;
- Motor Fuel Use Tax (i.e., International Fuel Tax Agreement liabilities); and
- Any liability that is not a tax (e.g., licensing fees, tire user fees, motor fuel violations, permits, and some surcharges); however, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Maintenance Fee is eligible.
The following are not waived by amnesty:
- Lien filing and lien release fees,
- Books and records penalties,
- Bad check penalties,
- Collection agency service fees,
- Penalty and interest on tax liabilities that were fully paid prior to amnesty,
- Penalty and interest amounts associated with MFUT (i.e. IFTA), and
- Various other penalties and fees that are not based on tax liability (e.g., abusive tax shelter penalties, frivolous return penalties, and certain audit penalties).
Amnesty is not available to a taxpayer who is party to a criminal investigation or has a criminal or civil case pending for any amnesty-eligible tax collected by IDOR. If that tax-related civil case is dismissed before the end of the amnesty period, then a taxpayer can be eligible to participate in the amnesty programs.
Franchise Tax Amnesty Program
The Franchise Tax Amnesty Program will allow taxpayers who owe franchise taxes or license fee liabilities to pay them and have any associated interest or penalties abated. Also, the Secretary will not seek civil or criminal prosecution for the time period for which amnesty has been granted to the taxpayer.
The Illinois Secretary of State will run the franchise tax amnesty program from October 1, 2025, through November 15, 2025. An eligible tax liability for this program is any franchise taxes or license fee liabilities owed for July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2025. There are limitations on participation: taxpayers that are a party to any civil, administrative, or criminal investigation or litigation for nonpayment, delinquency, or fraud in relation to franchise tax or license fees or who have received interrogatories from the Secretary’s Department of Business Services are not eligible to participate.
Getting Help for Tax Relief
The team at Gensburg Calandriello & Kanter, P.C. is available to assist you and your business with any aspect related to these amnesty programs, as well as any other business-related legal needs. During the prior 2019 IDOR Amnesty Program, our attorneys assisted several taxpayers resulting in significant savings to our clients. We recommend individuals and businesses with Illinois tax liabilities take advantage of this valuable opportunity to participate in IDOR’s 2025 Amnesty Program. For more information regarding the amnesty programs, and for comprehensive support and guidance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sandra Mertens, Esq. and Grace Symington
smertens@gcklegal.com