Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision and Illinois Public Act 100-0587 (eff. June 4, 2018) (35 ILCS 105/2), expanding the statutory definition of a “retailer maintaining a place of business in [Illinois]” for purposes of state use tax, the Illinois Department of Revenue filed on September 11, 2018 with the Illinois Secretary of State emergency regulations. The emergency regulations are effective upon filing and require remote sellers who have for a preceding 12-month period either (1) generated cumulative gross receipts from Illinois sales of $100,000 or more, or (2) completed 200 or more separate Illinois transactions, to collect and remit Illinois use tax for sales made on or after October 1, 2018.¹

For the October 1, 2018 use tax collection start date, remote retailers are to review their Illinois gross receipts and transactions for the period September 1, 2017 through August 31, 2018. For this 12-month period, if a remote retailer satisfies either the $100,000 or 200 transaction thresholds, then the retailer is required to register, collect, remit and file Illinois use tax returns with the state for one-year.² At the end of that year, the remote seller should again review its Illinois sales to determine if it meets either Illinois nexus threshold. If the remote retailer does not satisfy either nexus threshold (and does not otherwise have nexus with Illinois), then the remote seller may de-register with the Department and stop collecting use tax, but is required to determine thereafter on a quarterly basis (i.e., the last day of March, June, September and December) based on the immediately preceding 12-month period, whether it has nexus and is therefore obligated to again start collecting Illinois use tax.