Illinois Taxation

Online Resources

 * 1862-1874 - at FamilySearch. Images only.
 * 1862-1866 - Internal revenue assessment lists for Illinois, 1862-1866 at FamilySearch. The FHL microfilm copies of some Illinois tax records for persons during the civil war. This extensive tax list shows monthly and annual taxes on personal property, income, those who produced and distributed goods, and on licenses to practice and do business.

Why Use Tax Records
By studying several consecutive years of tax records you may determine when a young men came of age, when individuals moved in and out of a home, or when they died leaving heirs. Authorities determined wealth (real estate, or income) to be taxed. Taxes can be for polls, real and personal estate, or schools.

Tax record content varies and may include the name and residence of the taxpayer, description of the real estate, name of original purchaser, description of personal property, number of males over 21, number of school children, slaves, and farm animals. Tax records usually are arranged by date and locality and are not normally indexed. Tax records can be used in place of missing land and census records to locate a person’s residence.

County Level
Tax records are most commonly housed in the county seat for each county, although they can be found on state and local levels as well. The tax records include assessors’ books, railroad tax books, collectors’ books, taxable land lists, delinquent taxes, and road tax books. Some original and microfilmed copies are in the Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD). You may find Illinois Tax resources available at FamilySearch Catalog and WorldCat.

State Level
Illinois was divided into 13 tax districts. Cook County is in District 1, Sangamon County in District 8, Peoria County in District 5, and St. Clair County in District 12. Each film has a full list of counties and the districts to which they belonged.

Genealogical periodicals often contain published tax lists. To search periodicals use the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). Search for the county of interest as a place and tax records as the type of record. Learn more about using PERSI. For more information about periodicals, see the wiki page for United States periodicals or the Illinois state periodicals.

Tax Laws
The first tax records of Illinois were created in the late 1700s to early 1800s while Illinois was part of the Northwest Territory of the Ohio River. These recorded an assessment for property tax on unimproved land, uncleared prairie or wood land, divided into three classes based on quality of earth surface and soil. If payment became delinquent, the property was sold at public auction. However, unfortunately, those early tax records appear to have survived.

After Illinois became a state, tax records of various kinds were kept in the counties, where records began about 1817. Examples of the kind of tax records you might find are: land taxes, poor taxes, school taxes, and county road taxes. A person was also taxed for having bank stock, slaves, and indentured Blacks or Mulattoes.

While tax lists are often used as substitutes for missing census records, in Illinois they do not represent every household. Those who did not own taxable land or property were not listed. No voting or poll taxes were imposed. Most Illinois land purchased from the federal government was not taxable for five years. Therefore, a person appearing on a tax list for the first time may have actually lived in the area for several years. The tax was collected by the county, with income divided between the county and state. Taxpayers' lists were eliminated in 1824, and in 1825 a county road tax and school taxes were enacted.