On May 7, 2013, a complaint was filed against Cook County to
enjoin the county from enforcing its newly enacted Cook County
Personal Property Use Tax ("Tax"). The Cook County
Circuit Court has now set a briefing schedule on Reed Smith's
Motion to Preliminarily Enjoin Ali Zahra and the Cook County
Department of Revenue from enforcing the Tax, and to enjoin the
imposition of the Tax.1 To read our initial assessment of the Cook
County Tax,
click here.
In the motion, Reed Smith asked the court to declare that the
Tax violates the Illinois Counties Code, the Illinois Constitution,
and the Dormant Commerce Clause of the United States
Constitution.
The argument is that the county may not impose a tax in
violation of the Counties Code. The Code prohibits home rule units
(which includes Cook County) from imposing use taxes on the selling
price of tangible personal property. Although the county measures
the Tax based on the "value" of the tangible personal
property
