Illinois Justices Revive Marathon’s Case Over County Fuel Tax

Marathon Petroleum Co. convinced the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday to give it another shot to argue that Cook County wrongly imposed almost $15 million in motor fuel taxes on its cash transactions.

The petroleum refiner and distributor asked the state justices to overturn a 2022 state appeals court ruling that the Cook County Department of Revenue properly taxed “book-out transactions,” which involved paying cash to settle a contract to deliver fuel on a specific date.

The justices held that the underlying administrative law judge’s decision upholding the assessment was based on a misunderstanding of Marathon’s evidence.

“We find the ...