Illinois State Income Taxes

The state of Illinois collects income taxes on April 15th, much the way the IRS and 44 other states do.


This page:

  • Lists basic Illinois state tax information

  • Links to the major Illinois income tax forms

  • Shows you how you can save time and money by e-filing

Prepare your Illinois taxes online, for free:
If you want to avoid costly mistakes, while at the same time taking advantage of all possible credits and deductions, you want to do your taxes online.

TurboTax Online allows you to work on your return for free, until you file. Work on your federal and Illinois state taxes, and pay nothing until you are satisfied with your return. Start now.

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Illinois state taxes at a glance:

Tax Rate Range: Low - 3.0%; High - 3.0%
Income Brackets: Flat Rate
yNumber of Brackets: 1
Personal Exemptions: Single - $2,000; Married - $4,000; Dependents - $2,000
Standard Deduction: None
Medical/Dental Deduction: None
Federal Income Tax Deduction: None

Filing your Illinois state income tax return

When you file your Illinois state income tax, you must maintain the same filing status you used on your federal return. Unless you and your spouse are residents of different states. In this case, your filing status does not have to match that of your state return.

Along the same lines, taxpayers in Illinois can itemize deductions an the federal return and sill take the standard deduction on the Illinois state income tax return.

Residents of Illinois may be eligible to claim the following credits on their state tax returns:

  • property tax paid
  • earned income credit
  • education expense credit

There are, of course, other less common credits but they are fairly specific. To claim these credits, Schedule 1299-C orSchedule CR needs to be completed and filed with your Illinois state tax return.

Currently, Illinois does not tax retirement or social security benefits. This includes benefits received from a different state.

Income other than social security or retirement benefits are taxed at a flat rate of 3.0%. Besides salaries and other forms of compensation, income includes capital gains and earned investment interest. These too are taxed at a rate of 3.0%.

Non-residents of Illinois that earned income in the state should report this income by filing IL-1040 and a Schedule NR.

Sidebar
You can work on your Illinois tax return online while filing your federal return (you can work on it for free, and pay nothing until you are ready to file).

Note: if you are filing more than one state return, you must file a paper return for each additional state, as TurboTax Online only allows one state prep.

Illinois income tax forms

The main Illinois tax forms are:

Form IL-1040 | 2006 Illinois Individual Income Tax Return| Instructions

Schedule CR | Tax Credits Paid to Other States

Schedule ED | Credit for Qualified Education Expenses

If you need Illinois income tax forms that are not listed here, you can download them from the Illinois tax forms site.


Or, just simply e-file!

Additional IL state taxes help

If you need help with your federal tax return, start with our basic guide to tax filing.

For additional help with filing IL income tax returns, see the official site of the Illinois Department of Revenue.

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