NW Illinois News

Sen. Win Stoller (R-Germantown Hills) is working to pass Senate Bill 2531 through the Illinois General Assembly to help small businesses with a State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. 

According to a press release from Stoller, Senate Bill 2531 allows small businesses to use an IRS-approved method to bypass a $10,000 cap through entities such as partnerships or S-corporations. With state, local and property tax being high in Illinois, this will allow small businesses to be taxed at an entity level on businesses income, which currently is not allowed in Illinois. 

"My S.A.L.T Bill has started to pick up support as it moves through the legislative process. I look forward to advocating on behalf of Illinois small businesses as we work to pass it out of the General Assembly," Stoller said in an April 16 Facebook post. 

Sen. Win Stoller | Facebook

Stoller said the legislation could end up helping nearly 400,000 small businesses currently struggling because of the pandemic and continuing restrictions caused by it. 

“In a state where taxes are among the highest in the nation, my S.A.L.T bill will help alleviate some of that burden for our small businesses,” Stoller said. “With just a simple change to our state’s tax code, we can help struggling small businesses save thousands of dollars.”

Stoller this bill is a "no brainer" since it will cost Illinois nothing to implement. 

“In a time where businesses have been struggling to survive, we must take advantage of every opportunity we can to support them,” Stoller said in the release. “This bill is a no-brainer, it cost the state nothing and several other states have already implemented similar provisions.”

In November, the IRS issued guidance on how these small businesses are allowed to bypass the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions introduced in the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.

So far, the bill is seeing bipartisan support, another press release stated. If passed, small business es will be allowed to elect to be taxed at the entity level so its income may pass through at the personal return level, and an owner can claim the offsetting credit on their state return. 

The bill has already passed the Senate Revenue Committee with a 9-0 vote, and will continue to the Senate floor for further readings.