§ 66-221. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Amount paid means the amount charged to the taxpayer's service address in the city, regardless of where such amount is billed or paid.

Gross charge .

(1)

The term "gross charge" means the amount paid for the act or privilege of originating or receiving telecommunications in the city or for distributing, supplying, furnishing or selling gas or electricity for use or consumption and not for resale, as the case may be, and for all services rendered in connection therewith valued in money, whether paid in money or otherwise, including cash, credit, services and property of every kind or nature, and material and for all services rendered in connection therewith; and shall be determined without any deduction on account of the cost of transmitting such messages and the cost of the gas or electricity service, product or commodity supplied, the cost of materials used, labor or service cost, or any other expense whatsoever. In case credit is extended, the amount thereof shall be included only as and when paid.

(2)

However, the term "gross charge" shall not include:

a.

Any amounts added to a purchaser's bill because of a charge made pursuant to:

1.

The tax imposed by this article;

2.

Additional charges added to a purchaser's bill pursuant to section 9-222 of the Illinois Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/9-222);

3.

The tax imposed by the Illinois Telecommunications Excise Tax Act (35 ILCS 630/1 et seq.); or

4.

The tax imposed by section 4251 of the Internal Revenue Code;

b.

Charges for a sent collect telecommunication received outside of this city;

c.

Charges for leased time on equipment or charges for the storage of data or information or subsequent retrieval or the processing of data or information intended to change its form or content. Such equipment includes, but is not limited to, the use of calculators, computers, data processing equipment, tabulating equipment or accounting equipment and also includes the usage of computers under a time-sharing agreement;

d.

Charges for customer equipment, including such equipment that is leased or rented by the customer from any source, wherein such charges are disaggregated and separately identified from other charges;

e.

Charges to business enterprises certified under section 9.222.1 of the Illinois Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/9-222.1) to the extent of such exemption and during the period of time specified by the department of commerce and community affairs;

f.

Charges for telecommunications and all services and equipment provided in connection therewith between a parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries or between wholly owned subsidiaries when the tax imposed under this article has already been paid to a retailer and only to the extent that the charges between the parent corporation and wholly owned subsidiaries represent expense allocations between the corporation and not the generation of profit for the corporation rendering such services;

g.

Bad debts ("bad debt" means any portion of a debt that is related to a sale at retail for which gross charges are not otherwise deductible or excludable that has become worthless or uncollectible, as determined under applicable federal income tax standards; if the portion of the debt deemed to be bad is subsequently paid, the retailer shall report and pay the tax on that portion during the reporting period in which the payment is made); or

h.

Charges paid by inserting coins in coin-operated telecommunications devices.

Interstate telecommunications means all telecommunications that either originate or terminate outside the state.

Intrastate telecommunications means all telecommunications that originate and terminate within the state.

Person means any natural individual, firm, trust, estate, partnership, association, joint stock company, joint venture, corporation, or a receiver, trustee, guardian or other representative appointed by order of any court, the federal and state governments, including state universities created by statute, or any city, town, county or other political subdivision of the state.

Purchase at retail means any acquisition of electricity by a purchaser for purposes of use or consumption, and not for resale, but shall not include the use of electricity by a public utility, as defined in section 8-11-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/8-11-2), directly in the generation, production, transmission, delivery or sale of electricity.

Purchaser means any person who uses or consumes, within the corporate limits of the city, telecommunications, gas or electricity acquired in a purchase at retail.

Retailer means and includes every person engaged in the business of making sales at retail as defined in this article. The city may, in its discretion, upon application, authorize the collection of the tax imposed under this article by any retailer not maintaining a place of business within the state who, to the satisfaction of the city, furnished adequate security to ensure collection and payment of the tax. Such retailer shall be issued, without charge, a permit to collect such tax. When so authorized, it shall be the duty of such retailer to collect the tax upon all of the gross charges for telecommunications, gas or electricity in the city in the same manner and subject to the same requirements as a retailer maintaining a place of business within the city.

Retailer maintaining a place of business in the state, or any like term, means and includes any retailer having or maintaining within the state, directly or by a subsidiary, an office, distribution facilities, sales office, warehouse, or other place of business, or any agent or other representative operating within the state under the authority of the retailer or its subsidiary, irrespective of whether such place of business or agent or other representative is located there permanently or temporarily, or other such retailer or subsidiary which is licensed to do business in the state.

Sale at retail means the transmitting, supplying or furnishing of telecommunications, gas and electricity and all services rendered in connection therewith for a consideration, to persons other than the federal and state governments, and state universities created by statute and other than between a parent corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries or between wholly owned subsidiaries, when the tax thereon has already been paid to a retailer and the gross charge made by one such corporation to another such corporation is not greater than the gross charge paid to the retailer for their use or consumption and not for resale.

Service address means the location of telecommunications equipment from which telecommunications services are originated or at which telecommunications services or gas or electricity services are received by a taxpayer. If this is not a defined location, as in the case of mobile phones, paging systems, maritime systems, air-to-ground systems and the like, such term shall mean the location of a taxpayer's primary use of the telecommunications equipment as defined by telephone number, authorization code, or location in this state where bills are sent.

Tax collector means the person delivering telecommunications, gas or electricity to the purchaser.

Taxpayer means a person who individually or through his agents, employees or permittees engages in the act or privilege of originating in or of receiving in this city telecommunications, gas or electricity and who incurs a tax liability under this article.

Telecommunications.

(1)

The term "telecommunications," in addition to the usual and popular meaning of such term, includes, but is not limited to, messages or information transmitted through use of local, toll and wide area telephone services, channel services, telegraph services, teletypewriter services, computer exchange services, cellular mobile telecommunications services, specialized mobile radio services, paging services, or any other form of mobile and portable one-way or two-way communications, or any other transmission of messages or information by electronic or similar means, between or among points by wire, cable, fiber optics, lasers, microwave, radio, satellite or similar facilities.

(2)

The definition of telecommunications shall not include value added services in which computer processing applications are used to act on the form, content, code and protocol of the information for purposes other than transmission; nor shall such term include the purchase of telecommunications by a telecommunications service provider for use as a component part of the service provided by him to the ultimate retail consumer who originates or terminates the taxable end-to-end communications. Carrier access charges, right of access charges, charges for use of intercompany facilities, and all telecommunications resold in the subsequent provision used as a component of, or integrated into, end-to-end telecommunications service shall be nontaxable as sales for resale.

(Code 1968, § 23-63; Code 1996, § 66-221; Ord. No. E-4068, § 2, 3-6-1995; Ord. No. F-0260, § 1, 7-20-1998)