Iowa Admin. Code r. 441-99.2

Current through Regsiter Vol. 46, No. 26, June 12, 2024

Rule 441-99.2 - Allowable deductions

The deductions specified in the Iowa Supreme Court child support guidelines shall be allowed when determining the amount of income subject to application of the guidelines. The parent claiming the deduction shall provide the documentation necessary for computing allowable deductions. Allowable deductions are:

(1) Federal and state income tax.

a. The child support recovery unit shall calculate the amount of the deduction for federal and state income tax as specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines.

b. The unit shall calculate the amount of the deduction for self-employed persons with fluctuating incomes, as defined in subrule 99.1(6), by computing the person's averaged income and applying the method of calculating a tax deduction as required by Iowa Supreme Court guidelines.

(2) Social security and Medicare tax deductions, mandatory pensions, and union dues as specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines.

(3) Mandatory occupational license fees as specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines.

(4) Actual payments of child support pursuant to a prior court or administrative order. The date of the original court or administrative order, rather than the date of any modifications, shall establish a prior order under this subrule. Support paid under an order established subsequent to the order being modified shall not be deducted. All support payments shall be verified before being allowed as a deduction. The child support recovery unit shall calculate deductions for support as follows:

a. In establishing prior support payments, the child support recovery unit shall verify payments made for the 12 months preceding the month in which the amount of support for the new order is determined. If the support obligation is less than one year old, the child support recovery unit shall verify each monthly payment since the beginning of the obligation.

b. If the obligation is one year old or older, the child support recovery unit shall add together all verified amounts paid during the past 12 months up to the total of the current support obligation that accrued during this 12-month period, and divide by 12. All amounts collected shall be included, regardless of the source.

c. If the support obligation is less than one year old, the child support recovery unit shall add together the verified amounts paid since the obligation began up to the total of the current support obligation that accrued during this period, and divide by the number of months that the obligation has existed.

d. When a parent has more than one prior support order, the child support recovery unit shall calculate the allowable deduction for each obligation separately, and then add the amounts together to determine the parent's total allowable deduction.

(5) Health insurance premium costs for other children, not in the pending matter, as specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines. Health insurance premium costs shall be verified before being allowed as a deduction.

(6) Actual child care expenses as specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines. The child support recovery unit shall determine the amount of the child care deduction as follows:

a. Actual child care expenses shall be verified by a copy of the custodial parent's federal or state income tax return or by a signed statement from the person or agency providing the child care.

b. Only the amount of reported child care expenses in excess of the amount allowed as "credit for child and dependent care expenses" for federal income tax purposes shall be allowed as a deduction in determining the custodial parent's net income.

c. In determining the deduction allowed to the custodial parent for child care expenses, the following procedures shall be used:

(1) If the custodial parent provides a copy of a federal income tax return for the current tax processing year and the amount is consistent with the current financial circumstances of the parent, the child support recovery unit shall use the amount reported as "credit for child and dependent care expenses."

(2) If income tax information is not available, or if the parent indicates or there is reason to believe that the amount stated in the return is no longer representative of the parent's financial conditions or child care expenses, the child support recovery unit shall determine the allowable deduction for child care expenses for federal income tax purposes using the custodial parent's income only.

d. The child support recovery unit shall compute the child care deduction as follows:

(1) Divide the amount of child care expense the parent may claim as a deduction for federal income tax purposes by 12 to arrive at a monthly amount.

(2) If the child care expense reported on the financial statement is not a monthly amount, convert the reported amount to an equivalent monthly figure and round the figure to two decimal places.

(3) Subtract the amount the parent may claim as "credit for child and dependent care expenses" for federal income tax from the amount of child care expenses reported on the financial statement. The difference is the amount allowed for a deduction in determining income for child support.

(7) Qualified additional dependent deduction (QADD). The qualified additional dependent deduction is the amount specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines as a deduction for any child for whom parental responsibility has been legally established as defined by the child support guidelines. However, this deduction may not be used for a child for whom the parent may be eligible to take a deduction under subrule 99.2(4).

a. The deduction for qualified additional dependents may be used:

(1) For dependents of the custodial or noncustodial father or mother, whether in or out of the parent's home. The father may establish the deduction by providing written verification of a legal obligation to the children through one of the actions enumerated in the guidelines. The mother may establish the deduction by providing written verification of a legal obligation to the children, including the mother's statement.

(2) In the establishment of original orders.

(3) In the modification of existing orders. The deduction may be used in an upward modification. The deduction cannot be used to affect the threshold determination of eligibility for a downward modification, but may be used after the threshold determination is met.

b. Reserved.

(8) Cash medical support, either ordered in the pending matter or for other children, not in the pending matter, as specified in the Iowa Supreme Court guidelines. All cash medical support payments for other children, not in the pending matter, shall be verified before being allowed as a deduction and shall be calculated in the same manner as the deductions for support in subrule 99.2(4).

Iowa Admin. Code r. 441-99.2

ARC 1357C, IAB 3/5/2014, effective 5/1/2014

Amended by IAB September 8, 2021/Volume XLIV, Number 5, effective 1/1/2022