§ 14

When the amount due is under $300, any person subject to the provisions hereof who fails to file a return, or who violates any other provision of Section 9 or Section 10 hereof, or who fails to keep books and records as required herein, or who files a fraudulent return, or who wilfully violates any rule or regulation of the Department for the administration and enforcement of the provisions hereof, or any officer or agent of a corporation or manager, member, or agent of a limited liability company subject hereto who signs a fraudulent return filed on behalf of such corporation or limited liability company, or any accountant or other agent who knowingly enters false information on the return of any taxpayer under this Act, or any person who violates any of the provisions of Sections 3, 5 or 7 hereof, or any purchaser who obtains a registration number or resale number from the Department through misrepresentation, or who represents to a seller that such purchaser has a registration number or a resale number from the Department when he knows that he does not, or who uses his registration number or resale number to make a seller believe that he is buying tangible personal property for resale when such purchaser in fact knows that this is not the case, is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Any person who violates any provision of Section 6 hereof, or who engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail after his Certificate of Registration under this Act has been revoked in accordance with Section 12 of this Act, is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Each day any such person is engaged in business in violation of Section 6, or after his Certificate of Registration under this Act has been revoked, constitutes a separate offense. When the amount due is under $300, any person who accepts money that is due to the Department under this Act from a taxpayer for the purpose of acting as the taxpayer's agent to make the payment to the Department, but who fails to remit such payment to the Department when due is guilty of a Class 4 felony. Any such person who purports to make such payment by issuing or delivering a check or other order upon a real or fictitious depository for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be paid by the depository, shall be guilty of a deceptive practice in violation of Section 17-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012. When the amount due is $300 or more any person subject to the provisions hereof who fails to file a return or who violates any other provision of Section 9 or Section 10 hereof or who fails to keep books and records as required herein or who files a fraudulent return, or who wilfully violates any rule or regulation of the Department for the administration and enforcement of the provisions hereof, or any officer or agent of a corporation or manager, member, or agent of a limited liability company subject hereto who signs a fraudulent return filed on behalf of such corporation or limited liability company, or any accountant or other agent who knowingly enters false information on the return of any taxpayer under this Act or any person who violates any of the provisions of Sections 3, 5 or 7 hereof or any purchaser who obtains a registration number or resale number from the Department through misrepresentation, or who represents to a seller that such purchaser has a registration number or a resale number from the Department when he knows that he does not or who uses his registration number or resale number to make a seller believe that he is buying tangible personal property for resale when such purchaser in fact knows that this is not the case, is guilty of a Class 3 felony. When the amount due is $300 or more any person who accepts money that is due to the Department under this Act from a taxpayer for the purpose of acting as the taxpayer's agent to make the payment to the Department, but who fails to remit such payment to the Department when due is guilty of a Class 3 felony. Any such person who purports to make such payment by issuing or delivering a check or other order upon a real or fictitious depository for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be paid by the depository shall be guilty of a deceptive practice in violation of Section 17-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012. Any seller who collects or attempts to collect use tax measured by receipts which such seller knows are not subject to use tax, or any seller who knowingly over-collects or attempts to over-collect use tax in a transaction which is subject to the tax that is imposed by this Act, shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony for each such offense. This paragraph does not apply to an amount collected by the seller as use tax on receipts which are subject to tax under this Act as long as such collection is made in compliance with the tax collection brackets prescribed by the Department in its Rules and Regulations. Any taxpayer or agent of a taxpayer who with the intent to defraud purports to make a payment due to the Department by issuing or delivering a check or other order upon a real or fictitious depository for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be paid by the depository, shall be guilty of a deceptive practice in violation of Section 17-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012. Any person who knowingly sells, purchases, installs, transfers, possesses, uses, or accesses any automated sales suppression device, zapper, or phantom-ware in this State is guilty of a Class 3 felony. For the purposes of this Section: "Automated sales suppression device" or "zapper" means a software program that falsifies the electronic records of an electronic cash register or other point-of-sale system, including, but not limited to, transaction data and transaction reports. The term includes the software program, any device that carries the software program, or an Internet link to the software program. "Phantom-ware" means a hidden programming option embedded in the operating system of an electronic cash register or hardwired into an electronic cash register that can be used to create a second set of records or that can eliminate or manipulate transaction records in an electronic cash register. "Electronic cash register" means a device that keeps a register or supporting documents through the use of an electronic device or computer system designed to record transaction data for the purpose of computing, compiling, or processing retail sales transaction data in any manner. "Transaction data" includes: items purchased by a customer; the price of each item; a taxability determination for each item; a segregated tax amount for each taxed item; the amount of cash or credit tendered; the net amount returned to the customer in change; the date and time of the purchase; the name, address, and identification number of the vendor; and the receipt or invoice number of the transaction. "Transaction report" means a report that documents, without limitation, the sales, taxes, or fees collected, media totals, and discount voids at an electronic cash register and that is printed on a cash register tape at the end of a day or shift, or a report that documents every action at an electronic cash register and is stored electronically. A prosecution for any act in violation of this Section may be commenced at any time within 3 years of the commission of that Act. This Section does not apply if the violation in a particular case also constitutes a criminal violation of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13; 98-352, eff. 1-1-14.)