The financial responsibility bond the Illinois Department of Revenue requires from a licensed distributor or importing distributor to secure the gallonage tax on the liquor it moves. The Department sets the amount; premiums are 1% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum.
















No underwriting queue for the standard liquor financial-responsibility bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with the Department of Revenue. Here is the whole thing:
Your business details, the bond amount the Department set, and the effective date — that is the entire application.
The application collects no credit information, and most applicants are approved instantly — the executed bond is generated as soon as you pay. Larger amounts may get a quick review.
Submit the executed bond with your liquor distributor license. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the state insists on them.
Illinois taxes liquor by the gallon and collects that tax through licensed distributors and importing distributors under the Liquor Control Act of 1934 (235 ILCS 5). The financial responsibility bond is a tax guarantee: it stands behind the gallonage tax you collect and owe the Department of Revenue.
It is a three-party arrangement — you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the Illinois Department of Revenue (the obligee). If a distributor fails to remit the liquor tax it owes, the Department can recover against the bond.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays the state, you repay the surety. The Department sets the amount, generally in proportion to your tax liability (often around twice your average monthly liability), subject to a statutory floor and ceiling. We issue whatever amount your notice names, priced at 1% of the bond amount with a $100 minimum; the application collects no credit information, and most applicants approve instantly.
Submit the application with the bond amount the Department of Revenue set — the executed bond is generated instantly, ready to file.
Start the application →Pricing from $100. Enter the amount the Department set and file the same day.