SB2093 amends the Illinois Income Tax Act to make the existing credit for residential real property taxes refundable beginning with tax years starting on or after January 1, 2025. Under current law, eligible individual taxpayers may claim a credit equal to 5% of real property taxes paid on their principal residence, subject to income limits that bar higher-income taxpayers from claiming the credit. This bill would allow taxpayers whose credit exceeds their Illinois income tax liability to receive the excess as a refund rather than losing the unused portion of the credit.
The bill also specifies that any refund generated by the credit would not count as income or resources when determining eligibility or benefit levels for means-tested government programs, unless federal law requires otherwise. The change is effective immediately and would apply to the residential property tax credit section of the Illinois Income Tax Act, altering how the credit functions for qualifying homeowners and potentially increasing the value of the benefit for taxpayers with low or no tax liability.
Impact
SB2093 would amend Section 208 of the Illinois Income Tax Act to convert the residential real property tax credit from a nonrefundable credit into a refundable one for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. This would affect individual Illinois taxpayers who pay property taxes on their principal residence and are within the existing income eligibility limits, allowing them to receive a refund if the credit exceeds their income tax liability. It would also create a statutory exclusion for the refund from means-tested benefit calculations, unless federal law says otherwise.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the bill appears to be framed as a taxpayer relief measure with a generally pro-homeowner, pro-relief policy orientation. The sponsor’s proposal suggests support for making the property tax credit more meaningful for lower- and moderate-income taxpayers who may not have enough tax liability to use the full credit. No recorded opposition or formal vote history is available in the provided context.
Contention
The main policy issue is fiscal and distributive: supporters would likely view refundability as expanding relief to homeowners who currently cannot fully benefit from the credit, while critics may question the revenue cost of making the credit refundable and whether it should be targeted more narrowly. Another possible point of contention is the interaction with means-tested programs, since the bill expressly prevents the refund from counting as income or resources for those programs unless federal law requires it. No specific opposing arguments, committee concerns, or recorded votes were provided.