Chicago-area sales taxes were already No. 2 in the U.S., but new taxing authority handed to the Regional Transportation Authority will raise them to No. 1.
By Ravi Mishra | Illinois Policy Institute
Chicago’s 10.25% combined sales tax currently ranks second among major cities, behind only Seattle’s 10.35%, but a 0.25-point hike for transit will make them the highest in America.
The new Regional Transportation Authority funding bill, which increases the Chicago metro area sales tax by 0.25 percentage points, has passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and now sits on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk. Once signed, it will give Chicago the highest sales-tax rate of any major city in the nation at 10.5%.
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Chicago’s current sales tax is broken down into four categories:
- 6.25% statewide sales tax.
- 1.25% city sales tax.
- 1.75% county sales tax.
- 1% RTA tax.
Under the bill, the RTA portion of the tax will rise from 1% to1.25% in Cook County starting June 2026. In the collar counties it will increase from 0.75% to 1%.
Now that this bill has cleared the state legislature, Pritzker will have 60 days to sign it into law.
Read more here.
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