Illinois just did something no other state has done: it created a tax that treats digital assets differently from every other financial instrument. Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 3019 into law in early June, and buried inside the state’s $55.9 billion budget is the Digital Asset Tax Act, or DATA. It imposes a 0.2% privilege tax on brokers who exchange, transfer, or store digital assets for customers in the state.
The tax takes effect January 1, 2027, and is projected to generate roughly $60 million in revenue.
What the tax actually does
This isn’t a capital gains tax or a sales tax applied to crypto. It’s a privilege tax on the business activity of handling digital assets, and it targets brokers specifically.
To fall under the law’s scope, a broker needs either a physical presence in Illinois or an economic nexus with the state, defined as generating over $100K in gross receipts from Illinois customers.
