Marketers May Face Ad Tax Fight in Illinois Next Year

Early in his successful campaign, Bruce Rauner, the Republican governor-elect in Illinois, proposed extending the sales tax to a number of services, including advertising on billboards, radio and television as well as ad agency services.  

Local industry groups and companies met with Mr. Rauner’s policy advisors before the November election to express their opposition to such a new tax. It is not clear whether this proposal will be included in the new governor’s budget proposal for next year but we are working with the Illinois Broadcasters Association and other industry groups to closely monitor this issue.

In 2013, Governors John Kasich (R-OH), Mark Dayton (D-MN) and Bobby Jindal (R-LA) each proposed new taxes on advertising and agency services as part of their budget proposals. As a result of coordinated opposition from the marketing and media communities, each of these proposals were ultimately dropped by the governors.  

If your company has headquarters or significant operations in Illinois, it would be very helpful to weigh in with governor-elect Rauner to express your opposition to any tax on advertising.  

If you have information or questions about the proposal in Illinois  or any other state, please contact Dan Jaffe, Group Executive Vice President (djaffe@ana.net), in ANA’s Washington, D.C. office at 202.296.1883.