Liquid Air Corp. v. Johnson

The resolution of this dispute turns on the proper construction of certain provisions of the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act (ROTA) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 120, par. 440 et seq.), which imposes a tax upon the gross receipts received by persons who sell tangible personal property at retail. The taxpayers, the Liquid Air Corporation and its subsidiary, the Cardox Corporation, brought this suit to challenge the Department of Revenue’s (the Department’s) taxation of customer fees collected for the use of storage equipment. The Department decided that the fees were taxable because they…