Will County Gazette

As a small business owner in Plainfield, I know how rewarding it is to build something from the ground up. But in Illinois, the path to success has become far more difficult than it should be.

Due to the state’s excessive regulatory and legal environment, small businesses aren’t just experiencing slow growth – we’re being exposed to legal and financial risks that threaten our very ability to operate. As both a CPA and the owner of a tax practice serving clients across Illinois, I’ve seen firsthand how complicated and punishing the system can be. From overly complex compliance rules to aggressive enforcement by the Illinois Department of Revenue, even honest mistakes can result in audits, liens, and penalties that cripple smaller operations.

Illinois has also earned national attention for its legal environment. According to the American Tort Reform Association, our state remains a top-ranked “Judicial Hellhole,” where small businesses often face abusive litigation and outsized liability exposure. These are not hypothetical threats—they are daily realities for businesses just trying to stay afloat.

We’re not asking for special treatment—just a fair shot. The cost of navigating layer upon layer of red tape and protecting ourselves from frivolous lawsuits eats away at resources we would rather invest in hiring, innovation, and serving our communities.

This burden is especially heavy on businesses with fewer resources – often new, minority-owned, or family-run operations without in-house counsel or financial buffers. When the system becomes a weapon, it’s these entrepreneurs – regardless of background – who are most vulnerable.

Illinois lawmakers have an opportunity to fix this. By enacting common-sense legal reforms and ensuring a fairer, more consistent tax enforcement approach, they can show our state values its small business community—not just as taxpayers, but as job creators, mentors, and local leaders.

If we want to keep businesses in Illinois and revive our state’s economy, we need to restore balance to both our legal and regulatory systems. Let 2025 be the year we finally make that happen.

Raj Pillai is the founder of CYNOVA CPAs & Advisors in Plainfield.