On Friday, January 20, 2017, Illinois Governor Rauner signed Senate Bill 0513 which extends the Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE), a state incentive program existing since 1999, until April 30, 2017.

EDGE provides tax credits to companies seeking to locate or expand operations in Illinois. Its benefits can last for up to 10 years and amount to $10-30K per job. To qualify for EDGE, a pre-application must be approved and an agreement executed prior to commencement of job creation or project investment.

The Illinois EDGE tax credit program was created in 1999 and temporarily expired on December, 31, 2016, but is now available through April 30, 2017. According to the 2015 EDGE Tax Credit Program Annual Report, key accomplishments of the program include:

  • Over $1.3 billion in tax credits were offered to create over 33,821 jobs in Illinois (as of 6/15/16 for active agreements)
  • An additional 45,580 jobs were retained (as of 6/15/16 for active agreements)
  • 1,060 applications received

    • 804 approved
    • 238 withdrawn
    • 18 pending execution of agreements
  • 1,651 tax certificates issued

    • 229 different companies received tax certificates for tax year 2015

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