Illinois surplus lines carriers are protesting a retroactive tax hike that was enacted to help address the state’s budget deficit, according to Springfield’s State Journal-Register.
The surplus lines producer tax was raised to 3.5 percent from 3 percent, retroactive to Jan. 1, which carriers say will cause an administrative nightmare as costly as the tax itself. Also, insurers object that they never collected taxes on those premiums from their insureds.
The Illinois Department of Insurance claims the tax is not really retroactive because it is paid as a lump sum twice a year, the first time in August. Since it was passed before August, even though it applies to premiums since Jan. 1, a DOI spokeswoman told the Journal-Register it wasn’t retroactive.
In a letter to members, Illinois Surplus Lines Association President David Ocasek has asked members to protest the action while admitting the hopes of getting the retroactive aspect of the tax increase overturned is unlikely.
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