Illinois Tax Relief Program

Starting Friday (7/1), we'll begin seeing a little relief at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and when school supply shopping. Checks are coming, too.

If today is payday, Illinois just added a little extra to your 'take home' pay. The more appropriate way to term it would be, 'return home with' pay.

It would be nice to see more than what is going into effect today, but for now, I will take Governor Pritzker's version of 'economic relief'.

Tax Relief at the Grocery Store

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For Illinois residents, starting June 30, 2022, there will be a suspension of the state's 1% grocery tax. This suspension will remain in effect until July 1 of 2023.

Now if we could just get something done about how expensive groceries have gotten in the last year.

Tax Relief at the Gas Pump

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This form of relief is an inflation adjustment for the motor fuel tax rate. This one is a little trickier because it's not so much relief as it appears to just be a delay of the inevitable and could be a larger expense at the end of this 6-month suspension.

IllinoisPolicy.org explains it like this:

The delay means drivers face two automatic tax hikes in 2023, the delayed hike on Jan. 1 and the next automatic hike on July 1, 2023. Inflation is expected to drive the state gas tax up another 6 cents, to 45.2 cents per gallon, by the time the July 1, 2023, increase taxes effect.

This next one came as a surprise as I hadn't heard even a rumor that this was happening.

Tax Relief on School Supplies

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Sales taxes for qualified clothing and school-related items will be reduced from 6.25% to 1.25% for 10 days, August 5 to 14. Qualifying clothing and footwear items must cost less than $125. School supplies will not be subject to the dollar limit.

The last bit of relief for Illinois residents is a check, and it's the best-looking offer of the bunch.

Tax Rebate Checks

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These direct payments are coming for residents making less than $200,000 for an individual household or $400,000 for joint filers. The checks will be for $50 per individual and $100 per child for up to three children, according to abc7chicago.com. Checks will start arriving on September 12, 2022.

Property tax rebate checks, up to $300 are part of this economic relief program as well. Property owners will get an income tax credit of up to 5% of property taxes paid.

LOOK: Here are the 25 best places to live in Illinois

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in Illinois using data from Niche. Niche ranks places to live based on a variety of factors including cost of living, schools, health care, recreation, and weather. Cities, suburbs, and towns were included. Listings and images are from realtor.com.

On the list, there's a robust mix of offerings from great schools and nightlife to high walkability and public parks. Some areas have enjoyed rapid growth thanks to new businesses moving to the area, while others offer glimpses into area history with well-preserved architecture and museums. Keep reading to see if your hometown made the list.