Proposed Illinois boat tax is modified
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois lawmakers have voted to limit a proposed boat sales tax that would have applied a 6.25 percent tax to all private boat sales in the state, according to a story in today’s Bloomington Pantagraph.
A Senate Executive Committee voted in favor of placing a $10,000 threshold on private boat sales that would be subject to the tax, which had been proposed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich as part of his plan to balance the state’s budget deficit, the Pantagraph said.
Under the governor’s original proposal, approved in a Senate committee last week, the 6.25-percent would have applied to all boat sales – no matter how small, the newspaper reported.
State Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, was quoted in the story as saying the $10,000 cap would weed out small-boat owners.
“That’s probably where the yachts begin and the fishing boats end,” Halvorson said.
The bill will now head to the full Senate for further consideration, according to the newspaper.
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