Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (7550)

 

Municipal Code Reference: 3-32
CAPS Code Reference: 1002920051802
Tax Return Form Code: Form 7550
Procedure: The Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax applies to businesses or individuals that either are a lessor or lessee of personal property used in Chicago.
Tax Base:

As of 1/1/2021:

9% of receipts or charges for all leases, including the non-possessory lease of a computer to input, modify, or retrieve data supplied by the customer

As of 1/1/2020:

7.25% of charges for the non-possessory lease of a computer to input, modify, or retrieve data supplied by the customer

9% of receipts or charges for other leases

As of 1/1/2016:

5.25% of charges for the non-possessory lease of a computer to input, modify, or retrieve data supplied by the customer

9% of receipts or charges for other leases

As of 1/1/2015:

9% of receipts or charges

Prior to 1/1/2015:

8% of receipts or charges

Exemptions, Deductions and Credits: The ordinance differentiates between exempt lessees and exempt leases, rentals and uses. The classes of exempt lessees are:
  1. Lessees that are governmental bodies
  2. Charitable, Educational, and Religious Organizations
  3. Insurance Companies
There are twelve types of exempt leases. They include:
  1. Property leased outside the city that is primarily used outside the city (50%)
  2. Property that is leased from a party subject to certain occupation taxes
  3. Leases of "rolling stock" in interstate commerce by an interstate carrier for hire
  4. Leases of property where the rental price is paid by inserting one or more coins or bills of U.S. currency into an attached mechanism
  5. Leases of medical equipment or appliances for the purpose of correcting or treating parts of his or her own body
  6. The lease of a ground transportation vehicle if the lessor is subject to the ground transportation tax. This exemption is not available to a transportation network provider, transportation network driver, or transportation network vehicle owner.
  7. Leases of property where the lessor and lessee are members of the same related group. "Related" means companies under a parent corporation/person that owns 100% of the voting stock of subsidiaries either directly or indirectly.
  8. Leases by a membership organization to a member of such membership organization. This includes the trading companies on the stock exchange. This is similar to related parties in that the member must be directly or indirectly owned by a member of the Membership Organization.
  9. The nonpossessory lease of a computer used in execution, clearing, processing, matching or recording of a trade on a board of trade designated as a contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or on a securities exchange registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or any other trade of any security or any comparable security with respect to commodities, whether or not the parties to the lease also are parties to the trade.
  10. The nonpossessory lease of a computer used to deposit, withdraw, transfer, or lend money or securities (i.e., ATM machines, banking transactions).
  11. The nonpossessory computer lease in which the customer’s use or control of the computer is de minimis and the related charge is predominantly for information transferred (e.g., the nonpossessory lease of a computer to receive current price quotations)
  12. Lease of motion picture film by theaters is exempt. (Motion picture films are subject to the Amusement Tax.)

Affidavit for Apportionment of Use of Nonpossessory Computer Leases

Re-Lease and Registration Certificates

Transaction Tax Exemption Application for Small New Businesses

Rulings and Procedures:

Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 01
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 02
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 03
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 04
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 05 effective 9-1-2013
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 06
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 07
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 08
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 09
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 10 Affiliated corporate groups - lease or rental of personal property. This 1993 ruling pre-dated the enactment of Code Section 3-32-050(A)(7), which added an exemption for “[t]he lease, rental or use of personal property if the lessor and lessee are members of the same related group.” The ordinance superseded the ruling, which therefore is no longer in effect. It is retained on this web site for historical purposes only.
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 11 In Hertz Corp. v. City of Chicago, 2017 IL 119945, the Illinois Supreme Court held Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling #11 to be invalid. The ruling is therefore no longer in effect. It is retained on this web site for historical purposes only.
Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling 12

Uniform Revenue Procedures Ordinance Ruling 6: Collection Obligations - Facilitators

January 2021 Information Bulletin - Nexus and Safe Harbor
November 2015 Transaction Tax Information Bulletin - Revised
July 2016 Information Bulletin - Lease Tax on Cell Towers
November 2015 Information Bulletin - Nonpossessory Computer Leases
April 2006 Information Bulletin - Cab Owners and Leasing of Space
October 2003 Information Bulletin - Clarification of the Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax
May 1997 Information Bulletin - Personal Property

 

 

Businesses registered for Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax with the Chicago Department of Finance.