The state of Illinois wants residents to pay sales taxes on all internet purchases.  The state is hoping to collect on those taxes by having a separate line item in the Illinois tax return and by offering a sales tax amnesty for prior year purchases.     The state has become more vocal about the obligation to pay use tax.  Illinois Use Tax is a sales tax that you, as the purchaser, owe on items that you buy for use in Illinois.  The Use Tax rate is 6.25% of the purchase price of general merchandise and 1.0 % of the purchase price of qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances.  If the seller does not collect at least these amounts of sales tax, the purchaser is responsible for paying the tax to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). The most common purchases on which the seller does not collect Illinois Use Tax are those made via the internet, from a mail order catalog, or made when traveling outside Illinois.      The Use tax law was passed in Illinois in 1955.  Since then, individual taxpayers have been responsible for paying the amount owed.  Starting in 2010, the state of Illinois has made it easier to comply with this law if the amount owed is $600 or less.  They have added a line item to the IL-1040 (individual tax return).   They have given two options to calculate the amount owed.   A table may be used based upon Adjusted Gross Income or a worksheet may be used to total purchases on which less than the Illinois rates of tax were paid.      The state of Illinois is also offering an amnesty program for use taxes owed for the periods July 1, 2004 to December 31, 2010.  The amnesty program allows taxpayers to avoid paying penalties and interest for taxes paid in full during the amnesty period which runs from January 1, 2011 through October 15, 2011.  A separate Illinois Use Tax Return (ST- 44) must be prepared for each year with the word "Amnesty" in red on the top of each form.    The state of Illinois has stated that they will be aggressively focusing upon the collection of this tax.  They have stated they will be gathering sales information from other states and billing Illinois residents for unpaid tax, penalty, and interest.  They are also gathering information on overseas purchases from the U.S. Customs Service.     The Illinois Department of Revenue can assess use tax owed by taxpayers who do not pay use tax voluntarily.  For taxpayers who do not have records to document their use tax liability, the department will estimate a liability.   As many questions have come up regarding this, we are asking individual taxpayers as we prepare returns if they feel they owe use tax and would like to include an amount to pay on their Illinois tax return.