Illinois and two crypto industry groups have asked a state judge to delay the state's 0.2% Digital Asset Tax by six months, potentially moving its start date from January 1 to July 1, 2027 wh
Illinois and two crypto industry groups have asked a state judge to delay the state's 0.2% Digital Asset Tax by six months, potentially moving its start date from January 1 to July 1, 2027 while their lawsuit seeking to kill the levy altogether continues. The agreed motion was filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County. Because both sides support the postponement, there is no dispute between them over the six-month reprieve, but the new date still requires the judge's approval. As of early Thursday afternoon in Illinois, no court approval of the stipulated request had been publicly confirmed. The Digital Chamber and Illinois Blockchain Association negotiated the delay with state officials. Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said it would provide "relief from costly compliance obligations while we continue to seek to have this tax permanently repealed." The important point for Illinois crypto users is that this is a delay, not a repeal. If the judge approves Thursday's agreement but the industry ultimately loses the underlying case, the tax would still arrive on July 1.
Who Would Actually Pay Illinois's 0.2% Crypto Tax?
The Digital Asset Tax Act imposes a 0.2% tax on the value of digital-asset business activity received by an Illinois customer. That definition is deliberately broad. The law covers the exchange of digital assets, transfers and the storage or custody of assets on behalf of customers. It is therefore not limited to somebody selling Bitcoin for a profit. A covered transfer or custody service can create a taxable event regardless of whether the customer made money. The broker is responsible for collecting the tax from the customer and remitting it to the Illinois Department of Revenue. The statute generally requires the charge to appear separately from the price of the underlying service, although the department can permit another presentation where separate disclosure is impractical. The $100,000 threshold sometimes attached to descriptions of the law needs a qualification. A digital-asset broker with a physical business presence in Illinois can already fall within the collection regime. The $100,000 test specifically extends the law to an out-of-state broker serving Illinois customers remotely once its gross receipts from digital-asset business activity sold to those customers reach at least $100,000 over the relevant 12-month period. FinanceFeeds
covered the original Illinois Digital Asset Tax Act in June, when the legislation was still scheduled to begin on January 1, 2027.
The Six-Month Delay Does Not End the Lawsuit
The Digital Chamber filed its complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief on July 21, asking the Sangamon County court to declare the tax unenforceable and stop Illinois from collecting it. The group argues that the law violates provisions of both the U.S. and Illinois constitutions and is preempted by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, which restricts discriminatory taxation of electronic commerce. Those are the plaintiffs' legal claims; the court has not yet resolved them. The broader industry challenge subsequently moved into the preliminary-injunction stage. FinanceFeeds reported on September 9 that
crypto trade groups were asking the same Sangamon County court to block the 0.2% tax before its January deadline, arguing that member companies were already spending heavily to build compliance systems for a tax they contend is unlawful. Thursday's stipulated motion changes the immediate timetable without deciding that argument. If approved, the parties would get another six months to litigate what CoinDesk described as the tax's "constitutionality and enforceability" without businesses facing a January implementation deadline at the same time.
What Changes for Illinois Crypto Users if the Judge Approves It?
The most immediate change is simple: qualifying exchanges, brokers and custodians would not need to begin collecting the new state tax on January 1. Users would therefore avoid the additional 0.2% charge for another six months while the lawsuit proceeds. Platforms would also gain more time to build systems for determining whether a customer is located in Illinois, tracking covered activity, collecting the tax and filing returns if the law survives. That sourcing question is important for online platforms. Illinois law allows brokers to use information including customer account details, mailing addresses, IP addresses and other indicators to determine whether Illinois is the customer's place of primary use. The Department of Revenue is still working on implementation even while the court fight continues. It published draft proposed rules on September 28 and opened a comment period running through October 30. The department said those draft rules had not yet been formally filed with the Illinois Secretary of State or submitted to the state's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
Illinois Is Moving One Way as Congress Rewrites Federal Crypto Tax Rules
The state fight is also unfolding alongside a separate federal effort to change how digital assets are taxed. In September, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced H.R. 10357, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act. FinanceFeeds reported that
the committee approved the federal crypto tax package with a $10 de minimis fee exemption and new rules covering wash sales, mining and staking. The two measures address different problems. The federal proposal would change how gains, losses and other crypto income are treated under the federal tax code. Illinois's law creates a separate state-level charge on the value of covered digital-asset services received by Illinois customers. There is also a political route running alongside the lawsuit. Illinois lawmakers introduced H.B. 5798 in June to repeal the Digital Asset Tax Act entirely, although the measure has not become law. For now, however, the court is the immediate catalyst. If the Sangamon County judge signs the stipulated order, January 1 disappears as the industry's compliance deadline and July 1, 2027 takes its place. What the order would not answer is the more important question: whether Illinois can collect the tax at all. That fight continues even if both sides get six more months before anyone has to pay it.
