Summary
The Supreme Court of Illinois held that duplicate property-tax payments are overpayments subject to the five-year refund limitation in section 20-175 of the Property Tax Code. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that the payments were not tax payments, were subject to the Unclaimed Property Act, or were otherwise recoverable outside the statutory refund procedure. The court affirmed dismissal of the plaintiffs’ class-action complaint as untimely.
Holdings
- Section 20-175 applies to overpayments of property taxes even when the overpayments do not arise from an erroneous assessment. Duplicate payments made pursuant to valid tax bills are properly characterized as overpayments of property taxes.
- A request for return of duplicate property-tax payments is a claim for a refund of overpaid taxes.
- The duplicate tax payments were not property subject to the Illinois Unclaimed Property Act or the Estrays and Lost Property Act because plaintiffs intentionally transferred ownership of the funds to the county treasurer to pay their tax bills.
- Plaintiffs' refund claims were barred because they were filed more than five years after the duplicate tax payments and the right to seek a refund generally accrues when the taxes are paid.
Questions Presented
- Whether duplicate property-tax payments made by the same or different claimants constitute tax overpayments subject to section 20-175 of the Illinois Property Tax Code.
- Whether a demand for return of duplicate property-tax payments constitutes a statutory claim for a refund.
- Whether the duplicate payments are subject to the Illinois Unclaimed Property Act or the Estrays and Lost Property Act.
- Whether the five-year limitations period in section 20-175 bars plaintiffs' refund claims.
Disposition
affirmed
Cases Cited (25)
- Ferguson v. City of Chicago, 213 Ill. 2d 94, 99, 820 N.E.2d 455 (2004)(followed)
- Wisniewski v. Kownacki, 221 Ill. 2d 453, 460, 851 N.E.2d 1243 (2006)(followed)
- Getto v. City of Chicago, 86 Ill. 2d 39, 48-49, 426 N.E.2d 844 (1981)(followed)
- Illinois Glass Co. v. Chicago Telephone Co., 234 Ill. 535, 541, 85 N.E. 200 (1908)(followed)
- Gannaway v. Barricklow, 203 Ill. 410, 67 N.E. 825 (1903)(distinguished)
- United States v. Dalm, 494 U.S. 596, 609 n.6, 110 S. Ct. 1361, 108 L. Ed. 2d 548 (1990)(followed)
- People ex rel. Daley v. Datacom Systems Corp., 146 Ill. 2d 1, 15, 585 N.E.2d 51 (1991)(followed)
- Canel v. Topinka, 212 Ill. 2d 311, 323-27, 818 N.E.2d 311 (2004)(distinguished)
- Presley v. City of Memphis, 769 S.W.2d 221, 223-24 (Tenn. App. 1988)(followed)
- General Motors Corp. v. State of Illinois Motor Vehicle Review Board, 224 Ill. 2d 1, 13, 862 N.E.2d 209 (2007)(followed)
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Court Document
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