A. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, a tax is imposed on the privilege of using or consuming in the city gas that is purchased in a sale at retail. The tax shall be at the rate of 6.3 cents per therm.
B. The ultimate incidence of and liability for payment of the tax is upon the retail purchaser, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to impose a tax on the occupation of distributing, supplying, furnishing, selling or transporting gas.
C. The retail purchaser shall pay the tax, measured by therms of gas delivered to the retail purchaser's premises:
(1) To the public utility designated to collect the tax pursuant to Section 3-41-050 of this chapter on or before the payment due date of the public utility's bill first reflecting the tax; or
(2) Directly to the department on or before the fifteenth day of the second month following the month in which the gas is delivered to the retail purchaser if no public utility has been designated to collect the tax pursuant to Section 3-41-050 or if the gas is delivered by a person other than a public utility so designated.
D. The tax shall not apply to the use or consumption of gas by:
(1) A governmental body;
(2) A person purchasing the gas for use in operating or propelling a vehicle;
(3) A public utility engaged in the business of distributing gas; or
(4) A business enterprise located in an enterprise zone established pursuant to the Chicago Enterprise Zone Ordinance, Chapter 16-12 of this Code.
(a) after the enterprise has used or consumed 2.25 million therms of gas in an annual tax year (July 1 through June 30);
(b) provided that the enterprise has employed, in the City of Chicago, at least 95% as many full-time employees or commission merchants in the four most recent calendar quarters combined as in the four previous calendar quarters combined; and
(c) provided further that the tax shall again apply to the first 2.25 million therms of gas used or consumed by the enterprise in the next annual tax year.
This provision shall be implemented through a procedure by which qualifying taxpayers shall pay, to the public utility designated to collect the tax, the full rate of the tax on all therms used in an annual tax year, and then apply to the department, no more frequently than once a month, for a refund of taxes paid on any therms that should have been exempt. By applying for and accepting a refund pursuant to this provision, an enterprise agrees that it will continue to operate in the enterprise zone for a period of at least three years from the date of its first refund application. Failure to meet the three-year requirement shall render the enterprise liable to the City for all amounts refunded pursuant to this provision.
E. To prevent multiple taxation, the use of gas in the city by a retail purchaser properly subject to a tax imposed by any state or by the city or any other municipality with respect to the sale at retail of such gas, whether such tax is imposed (1) upon the retail purchaser or (2) upon the seller and separately charged to the retail purchaser by the seller, shall be exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter. For purposes of this subsection only, any charge imposed on a retail purchaser pursuant to Section 9-221 or Section 9-222 of the Public Utility Act with respect to a sale at retail shall be treated as a tax properly imposed on the retail purchaser by the State of Illinois or by this city or other municipality.
F. A purchaser who purchases gas for resale and therefore does not pay the tax imposed by this chapter with respect to the use or consumption of the gas, but who later uses or consumes part or all of the gas, shall pay the tax directly to the department on or before the fifteenth day of the second month following the month in which the gas is used or consumed.
G. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to impose a tax upon any person, business or activity which, under the constitutions of the United States or the State of Illinois, may not be made the subject of taxation by the city.
H. The tax shall apply to gas for which the delivery to the customer is billed by a public utility on or after May 1, 1994.
(Added Coun. J. 11-17-93, p. 42192; Amend Coun. J. 12-15-93, p. 43735; 1-10-96, p. 14354; Amend Coun. J. 12-15-04, p. 39840, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-28-06, p.78283, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-13-07, p. 15814, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 11-8-12, p. 38812, § 1)