CORRECTED 4:36 P.M.
(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Republican lawmakers at the Illinois Capitol are trying to get five new taxes taken off the books before even a dime can be collected.
The taxes deal with digital ads, crypto currency, sports betting, prediction markets, digital ads, and social media. And State Representative Travis Weaver thinks they may not even work.
“Democrats are expecting minimal, if any, revenue from them, because they don’t even know if the measures are legal,” said Weaver (R-Peoria) in a virtual news conference Thursday. “They are, however, projecting costs, because the lawsuits have already started, and the Attorney General will have to defend them in court. These taxes can cost more money than they take in. That’s a wild concept.”
Platforms in Illinois with more than 100,000 users in the state will have to pay as much as $165,000 a month, Weaver claims.
“Now, there’s another tax on exchange wagers,” said State Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia). “It starts at 1.75% and then doubles to 3.5% after 5,000,000 exchange wagers. So we tax the revenue, we tax the wager, and now we found a way to tax a whole new kind of transaction.”
The lawmakers claim they’re new taxes on families. But are families really the ones that are going to be paying for them?
“Some of them are (being paid for by) businesses,” said Weaver. “But, think about the social media tax. One of two things are going to happen: They’re going to stop providing that platform in the State of Illinois. That’s not good for people; they like to use those services. The other option there, is that they’re going to pass it on to the consumer somehow, probably in the form of more ads that people are going to see on social media websites.”
The Republicans say that Democrats know no better than to tax and spend at a time when such a thing needs to be reined in. They’re hopeful, though, some Democrats will join them and pass the measures to repeal the taxes.
The bills being introduced are: HB5806, HB5807, HB5811, HB5814, and HB5798.
View the full virtual news conference below.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was corrected after a quote was found to be misattributed.
