Description, Rate and Base of the Tax

Section 190 Section 190.101  Description, Rate and Base of the Tax a)         The Automobile Renting Use Tax (Section 4 of the Automobile Renting Occupation and Use Tax Act (the Act) ( 35 ILCS 155/4 ) is a tax imposed upon the privilege of using, in this State, an automobile rented from a rentor under lease terms of one year or less.  The tax is imposed at the rate of 5% of the rental price paid to the rentor. [35 ILCS 155/4] b)         "Use" means any incident of control by a rentee, including the possession or the right to possession, over an automobile pursuant to a rental agreement for that automobile under a rental term of one year or less. c)         However, if the automobile rentor from whom the automobile is rented would not be taxable under the Act despite all elements of the rental transaction occurring in Illinois, then the tax imposed by the Act shall not apply to the use of the rented automobile in this State. For example, a rentee of an automobile from a rentor who qualifies as an isolated or occasional rentor so as not to incur Automobile Renting Occupation Tax liability does not incur Automobile Renting Use Tax liability when using that rented automobile in Illinois. d) "Rentor" means any person, firm, corporation or association engaged in the business of renting or leasing automobiles to users.  For this purpose, the objective of making a profit is not necessary to make the renting activity a business.  "Rentor" does not include a car-sharing program or a shared-vehicle owner, as defined in Section 5 of the Car-Sharing Program Act [815 ILCS 312] , if tax due on the automobile under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act or Use Tax Act was paid upon the purchase of the automobile or when the automobile was brought into Illinois.  The car-sharing program shall ask a shared vehicle owner if the shared vehicle owner paid applicable taxes at the time of purchase.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the car-sharing program shall have the right to rely on the shared vehicle owner's response and to be held legally harmless for such reliance. e) "Rentee" means any user to whom the possession, or the right to possession, of an automobile is transferred for a valuable consideration for a period of one year or less, whether paid for by the "rentee" or by someone else.  "Rentee" does not include a shared-vehicle driver, as defined in Section 5 of the Car-Sharing Program Act [ 815 ILCS 312] , if tax due on the automobile under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act or Use Tax Act was paid upon the purchase of the automobile or when the automobile was brought into Illinois.  The car-sharing program shall ask a shared vehicle owner if the shared vehicle owner paid applicable taxes at the time of purchase.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the car-sharing program shall have the right to rely on the shared vehicle owner's response and to be held legally harmless for such reliance. f) "Rental price" means the consideration for renting or leasing an automobile valued in money, whether received in money or otherwise, including cash credits, property and services, and shall be determined without any deduction on account of the cost of the property rented, the cost of materials used, labor or service cost, or any other expense whatsoever, but does not include charges that are added by a rentor on account of the rentor's tax liability under the Act or on account of the rentor's duty to collect, from the rentee, the tax that is imposed by Section 4 of the Act .  The phrase "rental price" does not include compensation paid to a rentor by a rentee in consideration of the waiver by the rentor of any right of action or claim against the rentee for loss or damage to the automobile rented and also does not include a separately stated charge for insurance or recovery of refueling costs or other separately stated charges that are not for the use of tangible personal property.  "Rental price" does not include consideration paid for peer-to-peer car sharing to a shared-vehicle owner or a car-sharing program, as those terms are defined in Section 5 of the Car-Sharing Program Act [815 ILCS 312 ] , if tax due on the automobile under the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act or Use Tax Act was paid upon the purchase of the automobile or when the automobile was brought into Illinois.  The car-sharing program shall ask a shared vehicle owner if the shared vehicle owner paid applicable taxes at the time of purchase.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the car-sharing program shall have the right to rely on the shared vehicle owner's response and to be held legally harmless for such reliance. [35 ILCS 155/2]