American River Transportation Co. v. Bower

Defendants, Glen Bower, as Director of the Department of Revenue, Judy Barr Topinka, as Treasurer of the State of Illinois, and the Illinois Department of Revenue (collectively, the Department), appeal from the trial court’s order denying their motion for summary judgment and granting the motion for summary judgment of plaintiff, American River Transportation Company (ARTCO). We affirm.

ARTCO operates a line of tugboats on the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio Rivers. In January 2002, the Department of Revenue conducted an audit of ARTCO’s tax liability under the Use Tax Act (UTA) (35 ILCS 105/1…