Independent bookkeeping & advisory firm · Serving clients nationwide, remotely
Which agency sent it — the Illinois Department of Revenue, the City of Chicago, IDES, or the IRS — and the deadline near the top matter most. TechBrot is a bookkeeping and advisory firm; we help you tell a simple information request from a real assessment and reconcile the books to find out whether you actually owe what the notice claims, then hand your CPA, EA, or tax attorney clean figures to respond with. We do not respond to notices on your behalf or represent you before any Illinois tax agency.
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
Illinois rule: an officer or employee responsible for filing and paying a trust tax who wilfully fails to can be held personally liable for the unpaid tax, interest and penalties; the books need tax collected or withheld tied to tax remitted. Source: 35 ILCS 735/3-7.
An Illinois tax notice comes from the IDOR, the City of Chicago, IDES or the IRS, and the response depends on which. TechBrot reconciles the books for the notice period, finds the discrepancies and assembles documented figures for your CPA, EA or tax attorney, who responds and represents you. The fixed fee is in writing within 3 business days.
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The agency name is usually printed at the top. Match it here before you do anything else — the right response depends entirely on which notice this is. Identifying the type and deadline is where we start; your CPA, EA, or tax attorney responds.
An IDOR income-tax or Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT) notice — balance due, a return-change notice, or a demand to file. We reconcile the period and the Illinois net income behind it; your CPA responds and files.
An IDOR notice or audit on sales/use tax filed on the ST-1 — often a flat-rate-vs-combined-rate or return-tie issue. We rebuild and reconcile the sales-tax records behind it; your CPA responds.
An IDES payroll or unemployment notice, or a worker-classification matter. We assemble clean W-2/1099 and payroll records; your CPA or employment attorney represents you.
A City of Chicago Department of Finance notice on the lease/“cloud” tax or the amusement tax — often the cloud tax commingled with sales tax. We separate and reconcile the records; your CPA responds.
The agency believes a return is missing. We reconcile the period so the actual figures are clear; your CPA prepares and files the return.
A records request, audit notice, or balance-due / collection notice. We reconcile and assemble a documented package and help confirm whether the books support the balance; your CPA or tax attorney manages the audit, payment plan, or dispute.
Notice types are educational and current as of the date this page was last updated, verified against Illinois Department of Revenue, City of Chicago, and IDES guidance. The agency named on your notice determines the correct response — confirm with your CPA, EA, or tax attorney. TechBrot reconciles the books behind the notice; it does not respond or represent.
More Illinois notices than you’d expect aren’t really tax disputes — they’re bookkeeping problems that surfaced as a notice. A flat statewide sales-tax rate used instead of the correct combined rate by jurisdiction under-collects until the IDOR notices. A return that didn’t tie to the books triggers an IDOR change notice. PPRT-relevant net income that was never tracked cleanly makes a Replacement Tax notice hard to answer. And the Chicago lease/“cloud” tax commingled with sales tax draws a City of Chicago notice.
That’s why the first move is almost always to reconcile the period the notice covers. Often the real number is different from what the notice claims — sometimes lower — and your licensed professional can respond with documented figures instead of guesses. We do that reconciliation; we do not respond or represent.
Records example: a sales-tax liability account that ties to each ST-1 filed, payroll liability accounts for Illinois withholding and IDES unemployment insurance tied to the payroll register, and a period-by-period schedule of what was collected or withheld against what was remitted — the figures your CPA or EA works from.
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Illinois compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
One rule per state that trips up the books — gross-receipts taxes, local income taxes, taxes owed at a loss — with the QuickBooks consequence of each.
OpenNexus, registration, collection, and filing — the whole cycle, and where QuickBooks tracking goes wrong.
OpenIdentify which agency sent it — the IDOR (income, the PPRT, or sales/use on the ST-1), the City of Chicago Department of Finance (lease/cloud or amusement tax), IDES (payroll/worker classification), or the IRS (federal) — and find the deadline near the top. Then reconcile the period’s books to see whether you actually owe what’s claimed. TechBrot helps with identification and the books; your CPA, EA, or tax attorney responds and represents you. We are an independent bookkeeping firm, not a tax agency and not a licensed tax professional.
No. We are a bookkeeping and advisory firm — we do not respond to notices, file returns or protests, represent you before the IDOR, the City of Chicago, IDES, or the IRS, or provide tax or legal advice. What we do is reconcile the books behind the notice and assemble clean, documented figures your licensed professional uses to respond. The response and representation are theirs; the books work is ours.
Because Illinois taxes are sourced and layered in ways generic bookkeeping misses. A flat statewide sales-tax rate used instead of the correct combined rate by jurisdiction under-collects until the IDOR sends an ST-1 notice; a return that didn’t tie to the books triggers an IDOR change notice; PPRT-relevant net income that was never tracked cleanly makes a Replacement Tax notice hard to answer; and the Chicago lease/cloud tax commingled with sales tax draws a City of Chicago notice. Reconciling the period often shows the real number differs from the notice — we do that reconciliation, and your CPA acts on it.
Chicago city taxes — the Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (the “cloud” tax) and the amusement tax — are administered by the City of Chicago Department of Finance, not the IDOR, so they’re a separate process from a state notice. The most common books cause is the Chicago cloud tax being commingled with Illinois sales tax in QuickBooks. We separate and reconcile those records so your CPA can respond to the city with documented figures.
Treat it with urgency. Illinois law treats tax collected or withheld from others as a trust tax, and an officer or employee responsible for filing and paying who wilfully fails to can be held personally liable for it (35 ILCS 735/3-7); federally, the IRS Trust Fund Recovery Penalty can be assessed against a person responsible for withheld income and employment taxes who willfully fails to collect or pay them. Get your CPA, EA, or tax attorney involved immediately; we reconcile the underlying records fast to support them. We do not respond or represent — we get the figures right behind your professional.
Fixed-fee against a written scope, based on the period and the records involved. You get the exact fee in writing within 3 business days — and because we’re reconciling books, not negotiating with an agency, the scope is bounded and clear.
The Illinois Secretary of State can administratively dissolve a corporation that fails to file its annual report and pay its franchise tax (805 ILCS 5/12.35), and can reinstate it on an application for reinstatement once the reports then due are filed and the fees, franchise taxes and penalties are paid (805 ILCS 5/12.45); unfiled tax returns often sit underneath. We get the books current so the financial picture is clear and CPA-ready; your CPA or attorney handles the Secretary of State reinstatement and the back filings. We do the books; they handle the agency.
That’s common and fixable. We build the books from source documents — bank and card statements, invoices, payroll records — to a CPA-ready standard, year by year, so your CPA or EA can answer a demand to file or prepare the back Illinois returns. We scope it in writing first so you know the cost before any work begins.
Checked against the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.