Illinois · Sales tax registration
Illinois sales tax registration, done for you.
Form REG-1 registers a new Illinois business for sales and use tax, and for other tax types on the same application. The thing to be deliberate about is scope, because Illinois continues to expect filings across every account type your business registered, independently of one another, until each one is closed.
Last updated:
Who you are dealing with
Illinois Department of Revenue
- Handles:
- Sales and use tax, withholding income tax, and other business tax registrations
- System:
- MyTax Illinois
- Form:
- Form REG-1, Register a New Business, found under the Register tile in MyTax Illinois
- Phone:
- 217-785-3707 (Central Registration), REV.CRD@Illinois.gov
File REG-1: register for Illinois sales tax
It goes to the agency named above, through the system listed beside it. We prepare it, file it, and send you the written confirmation.
State fee. $0 to register. Our flat fee covers preparing and filing the registration.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you have to register
Register before making taxable sales in Illinois. Which category you land in then decides what you actually collect. An Illinois retailer collects retailers' occupation tax at the ORIGIN rate. An out-of-state seller that has physical presence in Illinois has to decide sale by sale whether the selling activity happened in Illinois, collecting occupation tax at the origin rate when it did and use tax when it did not. A remote retailer, meaning no physical presence at all, is in once it passes either $100,000 in cumulative gross receipts from Illinois purchasers or 200 separate transactions with them. Illinois tests that quarterly, on the last day of March, June, September and December, looking back twelve months, and once you are in you stay in for a year. A remote retailer collects at the DESTINATION rate. One date matters if you are reading older guidance: from January 1, 2025 retailers who used to collect Illinois Use Tax on sales sourced outside the state moved onto destination-based retailers' occupation tax. If you are also hiring, note that Employment Security wants a separate registration within 30 days of start-up, which is a different clock on a different form.
What comes next
The reason to register narrowly is at the other end: Illinois expects filings on each registered account independently, and the withholding closure sits on Line B of the final IL-941 rather than on a form of its own.
How long it takes
Illinois does not publish a registration turnaround we could confirm. MyTax Illinois is the route that leaves you a record, and most account types can be managed there afterwards.
What we do
We work out which accounts you need, submit each registration, and hand you the account numbers, rates, and deposit schedules your payroll system asks for. One flat price per state, and any state fee passed through at cost. You keep the client. We never email them.
What makes Illinois harder than average
- Every account you register keeps expecting returns. Illinois continues to expect filings across sales and use, withholding, and income and replacement tax independently. Registering for something you might need later creates an obligation that outlives the decision.
- One form at Revenue, a different one at Employment Security. REG-1 covers Revenue. If you have employees, REG-UI-1 with Employment Security is separate and due within 30 days of start-up.
- Closing is not symmetrical with opening. Registration is a form. Closing withholding is a box on Line B of the last IL-941, and closing the registration outright is REG-16. Three different mechanisms for related things.
- REG-16 and REG-3-C do different jobs. One cancels the registration, the other updates its details. Picking the wrong one at closure leaves you registered, which is worth knowing before you accumulate registrations.
How Illinois compares
If Illinois is one of several states on the list, the order you register in changes what each one asks for.
Questions and answers
Which form registers Illinois sales tax?
Form REG-1, Register a New Business, under the Register tile in MyTax Illinois. It can cover other tax types on the same application.
Should I register for tax types I might need later?
No. Illinois expects filings on every account type you register, independently, until each is closed. An unused registration is an ongoing filing obligation.
Does REG-1 cover unemployment insurance?
No. Employment Security needs a separate registration on REG-UI-1, and newly created businesses must register with them within 30 days of start-up.
Is there a fee?
No. Illinois does not charge to register a sales tax account.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, entity type, Illinois locations, what you sell, the date taxable sales begin, the date the business started, and whether you will have employees.
The forms behind this filing
Agency details verified 2026-08-03
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.