We Tax Harder

Chicago has started to tax transactions outside its city limits. The city's Department of Revenue has told rental car companies in a six-county area surrounding Chicago that it is presuming that all car rentals are subject to the city's 8 percent tax. That means rental companies outside the city will have to collect the tax and send it to the city. City officials say that if the companies photocopy the renter's driver's license, get him to sign a sworn statement he won't spend more than 50 percent of his time driving in Chicago and send all that in, they won't have to collect the tax on that rental.