CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday announced that tax relief is on the way for millions of Illinois residents.
The Illinois Family Relief Plan begins Friday and taxes on several essentials will be paused. The plan includes a suspension of state tax on groceries for one year, direct checks for some families, the earned income tax credit, a sales tax holiday for school supplies and the doubling of property tax rebates.
On the topic of school supplies, the governor announced a 10-day sales tax holiday for those items would take place in August.
The Family Relief Plan includes several tax holidays, meaning a temporary cut in taxes, including:
- Groceries: The state’s 1% sales tax will be suspended July 1 through June 30, 2023
- Gas: The state’s normally scheduled increase in the motor fuel tax will be delayed from July 1 to January 2023
- School supplies: Sales taxes for qualified clothing and school-related items will be reduced from 6.25% to 1.25% for a 10-day window from Aug. 5 to 14, Items include qualifying clothing and footwear with a retail selling price of less than $125 per item. Eligible school supplies are not subject to the $125 threshold.
In regards to the direct checks, Illinois residents making less than $200,000 per year, or $400,000 per year for couples filing jointly, qualify for the direct checks. Each taxpayer will receive $50, plus $100 for each dependent child, capped at three. Those checks are expected to start being mailed out the week of September 12. They are expected to take two months to reach most people.
As to the earned income tax credit, last year’s increase in the credit now becomes permanent plus changes to its qualifying criteria will increase the number of households covered which can take advantage.
Watch the entire press conference in the video below: