Chicago Liquor Tax Registration Application Instructions for Direct Wine Shipper Licensees

Effective July 1, 2020, any Illinois Winery Shipper’s Licensee that ships wine to a consumer at a Chicago address is required to register with the City of Chicago Department of Finance and collect and remit the city liquor tax. 

Winery shipper’s licensees outside of Chicago are advised to wait to submit a new account registration application until after they have made a sale to a consumer in Chicago. Only wineries that ship DTC sales to Chicagoans are required to register with the city to collect and remit the city liquor tax. 

Note a Winery Shipper’s Licensee that has received approval from the ILCC for a self-distribution exemption must also collect the city liquor tax on sales to retail accounts in Chicago.

Chicago Liquor Tax Amendment effective 7-1-2020

Wineries should check with their compliance service to see if they offer registration and filing services for Chicago tax accounts before beginning the registration process.

New Tax Account Application Instructions

STEP 1: Email the completed tax registration form to Daniel.Reichart@cityofchicago.org with the subject line “Wine Provider Registration.” After the application is approved, the Department will reply to the email address which submitted the tax registration application with the new tax account number. The estimated time for approval is three days.

Tax Registration Application (New Accounts Information Sheet) – Corporations, Partnerships, LLC’s
Use this form only if you are a corporation, partnership or LLC out of state wine shipper permittee registering to pay the Chicago liquor tax on direct wine sales shipped to consumers at a Chicago address.

Tax Registration Application (New Accounts Information Sheet) – Sole Proprietor
Use this form only if you are a sole proprietor out of state wine shipper permittee registering to pay the Chicago liquor tax on direct wine sales shipped to consumers at a Chicago address.

  • The “owners” as listed on the Tax Registration Application/New Accounts Information Sheet will be the ones who can grant access to additional portal users by an authorization letter to Chicago Business Direct portal.
  • If located outside of Chicago a city business license is not required. Businesses that are not required to obtain a Chicago business license must apply using the paper tax registration form.
  •  Enter “Winery” as primary business activity.

STEP 2: After approval from the Department of the tax registration form, complete and submit the Initial Affidavit form via email to Daniel.reichart@cityofchicago.org with the subject line “Wine Provider Registration.”

Affidavit for Initial Tax Period Form

  • If not completed by a corporate officer, owner, partner etc. a Power of Attorney may be required.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic the Department will allow for the Initial Affidavit to temporarily be without notarization with the understanding that an affidavit that is notarized will be submitted at later date.

STEP 3: Once steps 1 and 2 are completed, the Department will notify the account holder that their Chicago Business Direct account has been created.  The account holder can then proceed to visit chicagobusinessdirect.org to create a user profile.

Once their user profile has been approved, the account holder may then link their profile to their tax account through the “Manage Business Account Access” page. After their user profile is linked to their tax account, the account holder can log in to make payments, file tax returns, and view payment and filing histories for the account.

In order to grant an employee, accountant or other third party the ability to pay and/or file returns on behalf of the account holder, that individual must create a user profile. Once the user profile is created and approved, the account holder can then link the employee or third party profile to their account.

Chicago Liquor Tax Returns Filings

A liquor tax return (Form 7573) and payment are due by the 15th date of the month following the month in which the sale occurred. 

  • A return does not have to be filed for a month in which no sales were shipped to consumers in Chicago.
  • Every liquor taxpayer is obliged to file an annual return. On the annual return, there is an annualization schedule where the account holder will detail the tax liability for a given month.
  • Chicago liquor tax returns must be filed online through Chicago Business Direct.

For an initial period, the Department will honor as a pay date the date the winery submitted their New Account Information and Initial Affidavit.

Resources

An Illinois Winery Shipper’s License and registration with the Illinois Department of Revenue to remit sales and excise taxes are requirements for shipping wine to Illinois consumers.