20 ILCS 655/13

(20 ILCS 655/13)

Sec. 13. Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit.

(a) Beginning on January 1, 2021, a business entity in a certified Enterprise Zone that makes a capital investment of at least $10,000,000 in an Enterprise Zone construction jobs project may receive an Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit against the tax imposed under subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 of the Illinois Income Tax Act in an amount equal to 50% of the amount of the incremental income tax attributable to Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit employees employed in the course of completing an Enterprise Zone construction jobs project. However, the Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit may equal 75% of the amount of the incremental income tax attributable to Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit employees if the project is located in an underserved area.

(b) A business entity seeking a credit under this Section must submit an application to the Department and must receive approval from the designating municipality or county and the Department for the Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project. The application must describe the nature and benefit of the project to the certified Enterprise Zone and its potential contributors. The total aggregate amount of credits awarded under the Blue Collar Jobs Act (Article 20 of Public Act 101-9) shall not exceed $20,000,000 in any State fiscal year.

Within 45 days after receipt of an application, the Department shall give notice to the applicant as to whether the application has been approved or disapproved. If the Department disapproves the application, it shall specify the reasons for this decision and allow 60 days for the applicant to amend and resubmit its application. The Department shall provide assistance upon request to applicants. Resubmitted applications shall receive the Department's approval or disapproval within 30 days after the application is resubmitted. Those resubmitted applications satisfying initial Department objectives shall be approved unless reasonable circumstances warrant disapproval.

On an annual basis, the designated zone organization shall furnish a statement to the Department on the programmatic and financial status of any approved project and an audited financial statement of the project.

The Department shall certify to the Department of Revenue the identity of taxpayers who are eligible for the credits and the amount of credits that are claimed pursuant to subparagraph (8) of subsection (f) of Section 201 the Illinois Income Tax Act.

The Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project must be undertaken by the business entity in the course of completing a project that complies with the criteria contained in Section 4 of this Act and is undertaken in a certified Enterprise Zone. The Department shall adopt any necessary rules for the implementation of this subsection (b).

(c) Any business entity that receives an Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit shall maintain a certified payroll pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section.

(d) Each contractor and subcontractor who is engaged in and is executing an Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project for a business that is entitled to a credit pursuant to this Section shall:

(1) make and keep, for a period of 5 years from the date of the last payment made on or after June 5, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-9) on a contract or subcontract for an Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project, records for all laborers and other workers employed by them on the project; the records shall include:

(A) the worker's name;

(B) the worker's address;

(C) the worker's telephone number, if available;

(D) the worker's social security number;

(E) the worker's classification or classifications;

(F) the worker's gross and net wages paid in each pay period;

(G) the worker's number of hours worked each day;

(H) the worker's starting and ending times of work each day;

(I) the worker's hourly wage rate; and

(J) the worker's hourly overtime wage rate;

(2) no later than the 15th day of each calendar month, provide a certified payroll for the immediately preceding month to the taxpayer in charge of the project; within 5 business days after receiving the certified payroll, the taxpayer shall file the certified payroll with the Department of Labor and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; a certified payroll must be filed for only those calendar months during which construction on an Enterprise Zone construction jobs project has occurred; the certified payroll shall consist of a complete copy of the records identified in paragraph (1) of this subsection (d), but may exclude the starting and ending times of work each day; the certified payroll shall be accompanied by a statement signed by the contractor or subcontractor or an officer, employee, or agent of the contractor or subcontractor which avers that:

(A) he or she has examined the certified payroll records required to be submitted by the Act and such records are true and accurate; and

(B) the contractor or subcontractor is aware that filing a certified payroll that he or she knows to be false is a Class A misdemeanor.

A general contractor is not prohibited from relying on a certified payroll of a lower-tier subcontractor, provided the general contractor does not knowingly rely upon a subcontractor's false certification.

Any contractor or subcontractor subject to this subsection, and any officer, employee, or agent of such contractor or subcontractor whose duty as an officer, employee, or agent it is to file a certified payroll under this subsection, who willfully fails to file such a certified payroll on or before the date such certified payroll is required by this paragraph to be filed and any person who willfully files a false certified payroll that is false as to any material fact is in violation of this Act and guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

The taxpayer in charge of the project shall keep the records submitted in accordance with this subsection on or after June 5, 2019 (the effective date of Public Act 101-9) for a period of 5 years from the date of the last payment for work on a contract or subcontract for the project.

The records submitted in accordance with this subsection shall be considered public records, except an employee's address, telephone number, and social security number, and made available in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. The Department of Labor shall accept any reasonable submissions by the contractor that meet the requirements of this subsection and shall share the information with the Department in order to comply with the awarding of Enterprise Zone construction jobs credits. A contractor, subcontractor, or public body may retain records required under this Section in paper or electronic format.

Upon 7 business days' notice, the contractor and each subcontractor shall make available for inspection and copying at a location within this State during reasonable hours, the records identified in paragraph (1) of this subsection to the taxpayer in charge of the project, its officers and agents, the Director of Labor and his or her deputies and agents, and to federal, State, or local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors.

(e) As used in this Section:

"Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit" means an amount equal to 50% (or 75% if the project is located in an underserved area) of the incremental income tax attributable to Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit employees.

"Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit employee" means a laborer or worker who is employed by an Illinois contractor or subcontractor in the actual construction work on the site of an Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project.

"Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project" means building a structure or building or making improvements of any kind to real property commissioned and paid for by a business that has applied and been approved for an Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit pursuant to this Section. "Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit project" does not include the routine operation, routine repair, or routine maintenance of existing structures, buildings, or real property.

"Incremental income tax" means the total amount withheld during the taxable year from the compensation of Enterprise Zone construction jobs credit employees.

"Underserved area" means a geographic area that meets one or more of the following conditions:

(1) the area has a poverty rate of at least 20% according to the latest American Community Survey;

(2) 35% or more of the families with children in the area are living below 130% of the poverty line, according to the latest American Community Survey;

(3) at least 20% of the households in the area receive assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); or

(4) the area has an average unemployment rate, as determined by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, that is more than 120% of the national unemployment average, as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor, for a period of at least 2 consecutive calendar years preceding the date of the application.

(Source: P.A. 101-9, eff. 6-5-19; 102-108, eff. 1-1-22; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)