Chicago Ground Transportation Tax: Rates, Exemptions, and Filing

The Chicago ground transportation tax applies to every commercial ride-for-hire operating in the city, and the rate depends on what you drive. Rideshare trips are taxed per ride, taxicabs pay monthly, and other vehicles pay a daily rate that climbs with seating capacity. The tax sits in Municipal Code Chapter 3-46 and is administered by the Department of Finance.¹

Who Owes the Tax

The tax covers rideshare companies (called Transportation Network Providers in the code), taxicabs, livery services, private ambulance and medicar companies, charter buses, and pedicabs. The operator is legally responsible for either collecting the tax from passengers or absorbing it as a business cost.¹

Vehicle capacity drives how the rate is calculated for non-rideshare operators. The structure shifts at the 11-passenger and 25-passenger thresholds, so fleet records need to be accurate.

Rideshare Rates and Surcharges

As of January 6, 2026, the per-ride base rates for Transportation Network Providers are:²

Single ride: $1.13
Shared ride: $0.53
Wheelchair-accessible ride: $0.53

Two surcharges can stack on top of the base.

Congestion Zone Surcharge

Any rideshare trip that picks up or drops off in a designated congestion zone between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. adds a surcharge. Single rides pay an extra $1.50 seven days a week. Shared rides pay an extra $0.60, weekdays only. Outside those hours, neither surcharge applies.¹ Zone boundaries are defined in a map published by the Department of Finance. A solo trip starting in a congestion zone during peak hours owes $2.63 in tax.

Airport and Major Venue Surcharge

Any rideshare trip picking up or dropping off at O’Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport, Navy Pier, or McCormick Place adds $5.00 per ride. This applies to both single and shared rides and stacks with the congestion surcharge.² A solo ride starting at O’Hare during peak hours and ending in a congestion zone owes $7.63: $1.13 base, $1.50 congestion, $5.00 venue.

Taxi, Livery, Bus, and Pedicab Rates

Non-rideshare operators pay per day or per month, not per trip:¹

City-licensed taxicabs: $98 per month. No proration for partial months, and no tax is owed for months when the cab is fully out of service and the license is surrendered.
Non-city taxicabs: $3.50 per day used in Chicago, capped at $98 per month.
Other vehicles with 10 or fewer seats: $3.50 per day.
Vehicles with 11 to 24 seats: $6.00 per day.
Vehicles with 25 or more seats: $9.00 per day.
Pedicabs: $1.00 per day.

City cabs holding one or two medallions file annual returns; those with three or more file quarterly. The Department of Finance mails tax coupons that reflect the correct frequency.²

Exemptions

Section 3-46-060 carves out several categories:³

Vehicles transporting students to or from school-related activities or events.
Vehicles that cannot be taxed under the federal ICC Termination Act of 1995.
Vehicles operated by a nonprofit organization when used solely for the organization’s stated purpose.
Vehicles provided to a nonprofit or government body when used for the organization’s purpose and the fare is billed directly to the organization rather than to individual passengers.
Vehicles used in ridesharing arrangements under the Illinois Ridesharing Arrangements Act (casual carpools, not commercial rideshare apps).

The nonprofit exemption has a detail that catches operators out: the fare must be billed to and paid by the nonprofit or government body itself. If individual passengers pay, the trip is taxable even when it serves a nonprofit mission.

How to File and Pay

Returns are filed through Chicago’s Business Direct online portal. Every operator needs a Chicago Business Account Number before filing, and each individual user has to create a personal profile with name, email, and phone number. That profile acts as the digital signature for every return submitted.⁴

If an accountant, attorney, or employee will be filing instead of the owner, they need a letter of authorization from the owner before the portal will link them to the account. Set this up well before your first deadline; registration delays are a common cause of late returns.

The return itself requires trip-level data: total rides or taxable days for the period, trips within congestion zones, trips involving the airport or venue surcharge, and any exempt trips. Rideshare companies file monthly, and returns are due by the last day of the following calendar month.¹ Taxi operators file quarterly or annually depending on medallion count. Payment goes through ACH bank transfer or credit card, and the portal generates a confirmation receipt.

Penalties for Late Filing

Missing a deadline gets expensive fast. The city stacks two penalties and adds interest:⁵

Late payment penalty: 5% of the unpaid tax, assessed immediately when payment is overdue.
Late filing penalty: the greater of 1% of the total tax due (up to $5,000) or 5% of the amount payable with the return.
Interest: 12% per year, accruing daily from the day after the due date until payment posts.

Operators who collect the tax from passengers but fail to hand it over to the city face a heavier hit: a penalty equal to 50% of the collected-but-unremitted amount. It can stack with the late filing penalty, and the Department of Finance will waive it only if the operator shows reasonable cause.⁶

Keep organized digital records of trip logs, vehicle information, fare data, and filed returns. Retain them for every period the Department of Finance can still assess. If an audit runs long, the city may ask you to sign a waiver extending the statute of limitations before the assessment deadline passes.

The Separate MPEA Airport Departure Tax

Chicago imposes a second, separate tax on vehicles carrying passengers departing O’Hare or Midway: the MPEA Airport Departure Tax. It has its own rates and filing requirements, and operators serving the airports owe both. The MPEA rates are:⁷

Taxi or livery vehicle: $4.00 per departure
Bus or van, 1 to 12 passengers: $18.00 per departure
Bus or van, 13 to 24 passengers: $36.00 per departure
Bus or van, 25 or more passengers: $54.00 per departure
ICC-regulated buses: $2.00 per passenger

For rideshare drivers, the $5.00 airport surcharge under the ground transportation tax already applies per trip. The MPEA departure tax is a separate obligation on the operator. Between the two, airport pickups carry the heaviest combined tax load in the city.

1
American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago 3-46-030 – Tax Imposed
2
City of Chicago. Ground Transportation Tax
3
American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago 3-46-060 – Exemptions
4
City of Chicago. BACP – Register or Login
5
City of Chicago. Tax Division FAQs
6
American Legal Publishing. Municipal Code of Chicago 3-4-230 – Failure to Remit Collected Taxes Penalty
7
City of Chicago. MPEA Airport Departure Tax