The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) is a cabinet-level department of the state government of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It is headquartered in the state capital of Springfield

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

. The IDOR collects state tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

es, operates the state lottery

Illinois State Lottery

The Illinois Lottery is run by the government of Illinois. The Lottery was founded in 1974, when U.S. lotteries were confined to the Northeast and Midwestern states. Televised drawings are based at the West Bradley Place studios of Chicago's CW affiliate WGN-TV , and occur twice daily, with the...

, oversees the state's casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 industry, oversees the state's thoroughbred and harness horse racing industries, and regulates the distribution of alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

ic beverages throughout Illinois, including beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

, wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

, and liquor.

History

The Illinois Department of Revenue has increased in size in line with the creation of new taxes within the state and the expansion of existing taxes. A gasoline tax was enacted in Illinois in 1927, the sales tax

Sales tax

A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....

 was enacted in 1933; the state income tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

 was enacted in 1969, and the first lottery tickets were sold in 1974.

Organization

The Illinois Department of Revenue collects taxes on its own behalf and oversees the operations of three quasi-independent state boards and commissions, as follows:

• The Illinois Gaming Board regulates Illinois casinos

- The Illinois Gaming Board/IGB utilizes sworn officers from the Illinois Department of Revenue - Bureau of Criminal Investigations (Special Agents) and Illinois State Police (Troopers) to staff the nine Riverboat Offices throughout the state as well as the IGB Headquarters in Chicago and Des Plaines.
Agents are responsible for conducting licensing and background investigations regarding casino ownership, management, employees, and suppliers associated with the Gaming industry. Agents investigate thefts, embezzlements, cheating, and illegal modifications of gaming devices as well as a host of other criminal activities. The IGB also enforces all regulations of the Riverboat Gambling Act and the Illinois Compiled Statutes.
Monitoring and regulating this industry has proved extraordinarily important to the State. More than 15 million individual admissions to the casinos are recorded annually, and total adjusted gross receipts exceed $1.7 billion on a yearly basis.;

• The Illinois Racing Board regulates Illinois horse racetracks;

• The Illinois Liquor Control Commission
  Illinois Liquor Control Commission
  The Liquor Control Commission is an Illinois state government commission, with four divisions.The Licensing Division is responsible for reviewing state liquor applications and issuing new and renewal state liquor licenses...
  
  regulates the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Illinois.

Today

In fiscal year 2007, the Illinois Department of Revenue expected to collect $24.6 billion in taxes and gambling revenues, about five-sixths of the state's general funds revenues for the year. IDOR expected to keep $1.0 billion of this sum (4.0%) to cover the costs of its own operations, and expected to transfer the rest to the office of the Illinois State Treasurer

Illinois State Treasurer

The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois.-Current occupant and duties:, the Treasurer of Illinois is Dan Rutherford, a member of the Republican Party...

to pay for the ongoing operations of the state.