Could a corporation omit full officer Social Security numbers from Illinois sales-tax registration forms and provide only the last four digits or its FEIN?

Plain-English summary

A corporation objected to mailing officers' personal information on Illinois registration-update forms and asked to provide only the last four digits of each Social Security number or substitute the company's FEIN.

IDOR said it could not grant the exception. 35 ILCS 120/2a required a corporate applicant to state each officer's name, title, and Social Security number, so the Department lacked authority to waive the requirement administratively.

IDOR also said corporate-officer registration information is confidential, is used only for official purposes, and is not available to the public. Improper disclosure by a Department employee is a Class B misdemeanor under 35 ILCS 120/11.

Common questions

Could the company provide only the last four digits? No.

Is officer information public? IDOR said it is confidential and limited to official use.

Citations and references

• 35 ILCS 120/2a
• 35 ILCS 120/11

Source

• Landing page: https://taxarchive.illinois.gov/research/legal/letter-rulings/sales-tax/2013.html
• Original PDF: https://tax.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/taxarchive/research/legal/letter-rulings/sales-tax/2013/st-13-0052.pdf

Original ruling text

ST 13-0052-GIL 09/11/2013 CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION
Section 2a of the Retailers’ Occupation Tax requires that a corporate applicant must
submit the name, title and social security number of each corporate officer in order to
obtain registration for sales taxes. See 35 ILCS 120/2a. (This is a GIL.)

September 11, 2013

Dear Xxxxx:
This letter is in response to your letter dated August 23, 2012, in which you request
information. The Department issues two types of letter rulings. Private Letter Rulings (“PLRs”)
are issued by the Department in response to specific taxpayer inquiries concerning the
application of a tax statute or rule to a particular fact situation. A PLR is binding on the
Department, but only as to the taxpayer who is the subject of the request for ruling and only to
the extent the facts recited in the PLR are correct and complete. Persons seeking PLRs must
comply with the procedures for PLRs found in the Department’s regulations at 2 Ill. Adm. Code
1200.110. The purpose of a General Information Letter (“GIL”) is to direct taxpayers to
Department regulations or other sources of information regarding the topic about which they
have inquired. A GIL is not a statement of Department policy and is not binding on the
Department.
See 2 Ill. Adm. Code 1200.120.
You may access our website at
www.tax.illinois.gov to review regulations, letter rulings and other types of information relevant
to your inquiry.
The nature of your inquiry and the information you have provided require that we
respond with a GIL. In your letter you have stated and made inquiry as follows:
Enclosed you will find Schedule REG-1-O to update the Owner/Officer
information and Schedule Reg-1-R to update responsible party information for
COMPANY. As you know, these two forms require our Officers/Employees to
provide their personal information, home address, social security number and/or
date of birth on paper and mail to an unsecured PO Box location. The privacy
law in STATE puts our company under an obligation to protect the personal
information of all our employees. In speaking to a representative of the Illinois
Department of Revenue (DOR) it was communicated to us that access to this
personal information would be strictly limited. However, our concern is that once
the information is committed either to paper or electronic storage, the possibility
exists that the information can be lost, stolen, or disclosed inadvertently.
Therefore, we respectfully request that you grant an exception to your current
requirement and instead allow us to submit only the last four (4) digits of our
Officer’s social security numbers, or the substitution of the FEIN number for
COMPANY instead.
If this request is not possible, we would ask that you provide us with the means by
which you will safeguard our confidential/personal information from inadvertent
disclosure or misuse; from its receipt at the DOR to the secure channel used to
transfer and ultimately store the information.

If you should have any questions regarding our request please do not hesitate to
contact me.

DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE:
Section 2a of the Retailers' Occupation Tax Act, 35 ILCS 120/2a, provides in part that
"Each such application . . . shall state: (1) The name and social security number of the applicant;
(2) the address of his principal place of business; (3) the address of the principal place of
business from which he engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail in
this State and the addresses of all other places of business, if any (enumerating such addresses, if
any, in a separate list attached to and made a part of the application), from which he engages in
the business of selling tangible personal property at retail in this State, and (4) the name and
address of the person or persons who will be responsible for filing returns and payment of taxes
due under this Act, (5) in the case of a corporation, the name, title, and social security number of
each corporate officer, . . . . and (7) such other information as the Department may reasonably
require.” (emphasis added). As the requirement of listing corporate officers’ social security
numbers is statutory, the Department is without authority to administratively waive it.
The Illinois Department of Revenue places a high importance on safeguarding
confidential taxpayer information. Corporate officer information included in the registration
documentation is confidential and is not made available to the public. The Illinois Department of
Revenue only uses it for official purposes and it is a Class B misdemeanor for a Department
employee to improperly divulge such information, 35 ILCS 120/11.
I hope this information is helpful. If you require additional information, please visit our
website at www.tax.illinois.gov or contact the Department’s Taxpayer Information Division at
(217) 782-3336.
Sincerely,

Samuel J. Moore
Associate Counsel
SJM:lms