§ 27

(a) In addition to the organization license fee provided by this Act, until January 1, 2000, a graduated privilege tax is hereby imposed for conducting the pari-mutuel system of wagering permitted under this Act. Until January 1, 2000, except as provided in subsection (g) of Section 27 of this Act, all of the breakage of each racing day held by any licensee in the State shall be paid to the State. Until January 1, 2000, such daily graduated privilege tax shall be paid by the licensee from the amount permitted to be retained under this Act. Until January 1, 2000, each day's graduated privilege tax, breakage, and Horse Racing Tax Allocation funds shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue within 48 hours after the close of the racing day upon which it is assessed or within such other time as the Board prescribes. The privilege tax hereby imposed, until January 1, 2000, shall be a flat tax at the rate of 2% of the daily pari-mutuel handle except as provided in Section 27.1. In addition, every organization licensee, except as provided in Section 27.1 of this Act, which conducts multiple wagering shall pay, until January 1, 2000, as a privilege tax on multiple wagers an amount equal to 1.25% of all moneys wagered each day on such multiple wagers, plus an additional amount equal to 3.5% of the amount wagered each day on any other multiple wager which involves a single betting interest on 3 or more horses. The licensee shall remit the amount of such taxes to the Department of Revenue within 48 hours after the close of the racing day on which it is assessed or within such other time as the Board prescribes. This subsection (a) shall be inoperative and of no force and effect on and after January 1, 2000. (a-5) Beginning on January 1, 2000, a flat pari-mutuel tax at the rate of 1.5% of the daily pari-mutuel handle is imposed at all pari-mutuel wagering facilities and on advance deposit wagering from a location other than a wagering facility, except as otherwise provided for in this subsection (a-5). In addition to the pari-mutuel tax imposed on advance deposit wagering pursuant to this subsection (a-5), beginning on August 24, 2012 (the effective date of Public Act 97-1060), an additional pari-mutuel tax at the rate of 0.25% shall be imposed on advance deposit wagering. Until August 25, 2012, the additional 0.25% pari-mutuel tax imposed on advance deposit wagering by Public Act 96-972 shall be deposited into the Quarter Horse Purse Fund, which shall be created as a non-appropriated trust fund administered by the Board for distribution to thoroughbred organization licensees for payment of purses for quarter horse races conducted by the organization licensee. Beginning on August 26, 2012, the additional 0.25% pari-mutuel tax imposed on advance deposit wagering shall be deposited into the Standardbred Purse Fund, which shall be created as a non-appropriated trust fund administered by the Board, for grants to the standardbred organization licensees for payment of purses for standardbred horse races conducted by the organization licensee. Thoroughbred organization licensees may petition the Board to conduct quarter horse racing and receive purse grants from the Quarter Horse Purse Fund. The Board shall have complete discretion in distributing the Quarter Horse Purse Fund to the petitioning organization licensees. Beginning on July 26, 2010 (the effective date of Public Act 96-1287), a pari-mutuel tax at the rate of 0.75% of the daily pari-mutuel handle is imposed at a pari-mutuel facility whose license is derived from a track located in a county that borders the Mississippi River and conducted live racing in the previous year. The pari-mutuel tax imposed by this subsection (a-5) shall be remitted to the Board within 48 hours after the close of the racing day upon which it is assessed or within such other time as the Board prescribes. (a-10) Beginning on the date when an organization licensee begins conducting gaming pursuant to an organization gaming license, the following pari-mutuel tax is imposed upon an organization licensee on Illinois races at the licensee's racetrack: 1.5% of the pari-mutuel handle at or below the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011. 2% of the pari-mutuel handle above the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011 up to 125% of the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011. 2.5% of the pari-mutuel handle 125% or more above the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011 up to 150% of the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011. 3% of the pari-mutuel handle 150% or more above the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011 up to 175% of the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011. 3.5% of the pari-mutuel handle 175% or more above the average daily pari-mutuel handle for 2011. The pari-mutuel tax imposed by this subsection (a-10) shall be remitted to the Board within 48 hours after the close of the racing day upon which it is assessed or within such other time as the Board prescribes. (b) On or before December 31, 1999, in the event that any organization licensee conducts 2 separate programs of races on any day, each such program shall be considered a separate racing day for purposes of determining the daily handle and computing the privilege tax on such daily handle as provided in subsection (a) of this Section. (c) Licensees shall at all times keep accurate books and records of all monies wagered on each day of a race meeting and of the taxes paid to the Board under the provisions of this Section. The Board or its duly authorized representative or representatives shall at all reasonable times have access to such records for the purpose of examining and checking the same and ascertaining whether the proper amount of taxes is being paid as provided. The Board shall require verified reports and a statement of the total of all monies wagered daily at each wagering facility upon which the taxes are assessed and may prescribe forms upon which such reports and statement shall be made. (d) Before a license is issued or re-issued, the licensee shall post a bond in the sum of $500,000 to the State of Illinois. The bond shall be used to guarantee that the licensee faithfully makes the payments, keeps the books and records, makes reports, and conducts games of chance in conformity with this Act and the rules adopted by the Board. The bond shall not be canceled by a surety on less than 30 days' notice in writing to the Board. If a bond is canceled and the licensee fails to file a new bond with the Board in the required amount on or before the effective date of cancellation, the licensee's license shall be revoked. The total and aggregate liability of the surety on the bond is limited to the amount specified in the bond. (e) No other license fee, privilege tax, excise tax, or racing fee, except as provided in this Act, shall be assessed or collected from any such licensee by the State. (f) No other license fee, privilege tax, excise tax or racing fee shall be assessed or collected from any such licensee by units of local government except as provided in paragraph 10.1 of subsection (h) and subsection (f) of Section 26 of this Act. However, any municipality that has a Board licensed horse race meeting at a race track wholly within its corporate boundaries or a township that has a Board licensed horse race meeting at a race track wholly within the unincorporated area of the township may charge a local amusement tax not to exceed 10¢ per admission to such horse race meeting by the enactment of an ordinance. However, any municipality or county that has a Board licensed inter-track wagering location facility wholly within its corporate boundaries may each impose an admission fee not to exceed $1.00 per admission to such inter-track wagering location facility, so that a total of not more than $2.00 per admission may be imposed. Except as provided in subparagraph (g) of Section 27 of this Act, the inter-track wagering location licensee shall collect any and all such fees. Inter-track wagering location licensees must pay the admission fees required under this subsection (f) to the municipality and county no later than the 20th of the month following the month such admission fees were imposed. (g) Notwithstanding any provision in this Act to the contrary, if in any calendar year the total taxes and fees from wagering on live racing and from inter-track wagering required to be collected from licensees and distributed under this Act to all State and local governmental authorities exceeds the amount of such taxes and fees distributed to each State and local governmental authority to which each State and local governmental authority was entitled under this Act for calendar year 1994, then the first $11 million of that excess amount shall be allocated at the earliest possible date for distribution as purse money for the succeeding calendar year. Upon reaching the 1994 level, and until the excess amount of taxes and fees exceeds $11 million, the Board shall direct all licensees to cease paying the subject taxes and fees and the Board shall direct all licensees to allocate any such excess amount for purses as follows: (i) the excess amount shall be initially divided between thoroughbred and standardbred purses based on the thoroughbred's and standardbred's respective percentages of total Illinois live wagering in calendar year 1994; (ii) each thoroughbred and standardbred organization licensee issued an organization licensee in that succeeding allocation year shall be allocated an amount equal to the product of its percentage of total Illinois live thoroughbred or standardbred wagering in calendar year 1994 (the total to be determined based on the sum of 1994 on-track wagering for all organization licensees issued organization licenses in both the allocation year and the preceding year) multiplied by the total amount allocated for standardbred or thoroughbred purses, provided that the first $1,500,000 of the amount allocated to standardbred purses under item (i) shall be allocated to the Department of Agriculture to be expended with the assistance and advice of the Illinois Standardbred Breeders Funds Advisory Board for the purposes listed in subsection (g) of Section 31 of this Act, before the amount allocated to standardbred purses under item (i) is allocated to standardbred organization licensees in the succeeding allocation year. To the extent the excess amount of taxes and fees to be collected and distributed to State and local governmental authorities exceeds $11 million, that excess amount shall be collected and distributed to State and local authorities as provided for under this Act.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 104-185, eff. 8-15-25.)