The Illinois Bitcoin Council is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to clear-eyed education and sound digital asset policy in Illinois. We bring fact-based, jargon-free analysis to the laws being written around Bitcoin — because we'd rather help our state get this right than watch good people get caught by bad policy.
We translate complex technology and tax law into plain English. Whether you're new to Bitcoin or running a business that touches digital assets, we offer straightforward explainers and a resource you can actually use — no hype, no spin.
We engage constructively with the General Assembly and the Department of Revenue, offering written analysis and technical comment as new rules take shape. Right now that means working to get Illinois's new digital asset tax right before it takes effect on January 1, 2027.
We run lean and take no corporate money. Member support pays for the technical analysis and public comments we file as the state writes the rules, the work that actually shapes the outcome.
Illinois rushed to be first. Here's what the law actually does... and where it goes wrong.
Our take, in plain English and grounded in what the law actually says. Read the analysis behind our work.
A tax that triggers when nothing happens — no sale, no gain, just your own coins moving between your own accounts.
The strongest legal argument against Illinois’s new digital asset tax isn’t loud, and it isn’t technical. It comes down to one question: compared to what?
Illinois's new digital asset tax takes its cut even when you sell at a loss — and that's a moral line, not a technicality.
Congress once stopped states from balkanizing the internet with a patchwork of transaction taxes. Digital assets may need the same line drawn, before it's too late...
A man in Austin buys a coffee and pays a friend back for a scone. Illinois may have just taxed both. That example is on page 11 of a complaint filed last week.
Please reach us at info@illinoisbitcoincouncil.org if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Brokers collect and file it, but the 0.2% cost generally passes through to their customers — everyday Illinois holders — and to the in-state companies that serve them.
Neither. It's not a property tax on what you hold, and it's not a capital-gains tax. It's a 0.2% tax on digital-asset business activity — exchanging, transferring, or storing assets for an Illinois customer — collected by brokers much like a sales tax, and it applies whether or not anyone made a profit.
No. The felony provisions apply to brokers — exchanges, custodians, and similar businesses — and their officers, for failing to register, file, or keep proper records. They are not aimed at an individual moving their own assets. The fairness problem we're focused on is that this criminal exposure exists before the state has even written the rules brokers are expected to follow.
It takes effect January 1, 2027. Between now and then, the Department of Revenue has to write the rules that make it work — an open, public process with a comment period before the rules are final. That window is the clearest opening to shape how the tax actually operates, which is why getting on our list now matters.
Add your name so we can reach you when it counts. When the public-comment window opens, we'll send you a simple, one-click way to file your own comment with the Department. And if you run or work for a business that will owe or pass through this tax, tell us — that perspective carries real weight with the Department and the legislature.
We're a nonpartisan Illinois nonprofit focused on education and sound digital-asset policy. Right now our main work is making sure the state's new digital asset tax gets the details right before it takes effect — clearer rules, fair penalties, no surprises for the people and businesses it touches.
No. We work with members and staff of both parties and offer written analysis as a resource, not as an advocate for any party or candidate. Our interest is good policy, not politics.
Through member support and donations. We take no corporate money, which keeps our analysis independent.
House Bill 5798, filed June 22, 2026 by Rep. John M. Cabello (R-90, Machesney Park), would repeal the Digital Asset Tax Act (35 ILCS 195) in full, effective immediately. As of this writing the bill has been filed with the Clerk and awaits a committee assignment. The official page tracks sponsors, full text, votes, and witness slips as the bill moves.
House Bill 5798, filed June 22, 2026 by Rep. John M. Cabello (R-90, Machesney Park), would repeal the Digital Asset Tax Act (35 ILCS 195) in full, effective immediately. As of this writing the bill has been filed with the Clerk and awaits a committee assignment. The official page tracks sponsors, full text, votes, and witness slips as the bill moves.
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