Decision Ruling N° 22 TT 61, 25 TT 100, and 25 TT 101, Illinois Department of Revenue, 2026-06-07

• Date: 06 July 2026
• Ruling Number: 22 TT 61, 25 TT 100, and 25 TT 101
• Type of Document: Decision Ruling
• Subject Matter: Decision on Summary Judgment Motions,Tax Tribunal

THE ILLINOIS INDEPENDENT

TAX TRIBUNAL

DRIVETIME CAR SALES )

COMPANY, LLC, )

Petitioner, ) 22 TT 61

) 25 TT 100

v. ) 25 TT 101

) Chief Judge James M. Conway

ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT )

OF REVENUE, )

Respondent. )

DECISION ON SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS

DriveTime Car Sales Company, LLC (“DriveTime”) sold motor vehicles on

“buy-now, pay-later” installment plans with its customers. DriveTime filed claims

with the Illinois Department of Revenue (“the Department”) to recoup a portion of

sales tax it paid upfront to the Department when a customer ultimately defaulted

on its contract and the related installment loan balance became uncollectable and

worthless. The claims cover losses incurred during the time period from January

2017 through December of 2021 and the claims total approximately $6.1 million

dollars.

Those claims were denied by the Department which asserts that DriveTime

did not meet the statutory and regulatory requirements to have such claims

honored, including that DriveTime did not claim a bad debt loss for the claim

amounts on its federal income tax returns and that DriveTime assigned the

installment contracts and the related customer receivables to its in-house financing

company, Bridgecrest, without recourse, before the defaults occurred. The

Department further argues, it was Bridgecrest that claimed bad debt losses on the

uncollectible receivables on its own federal tax returns, Drivetime and Bridgecrest