Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-54.7

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 6, October 2, 2024

Rule 701-54.7 - Apportionment of income of transportation, communications, and certain public utilities corporations

Net income of these corporations, other than interest, dividends, rents and royahies, which is not specifically allocated by 54.2(422) and 54.6(422) shall be apportioned as follows:

(1) Railroads shall determine their Iowa proportion of gross receipts or gross revenue from railroad operations by the following methodology:

a. Freight revenue. Freight revenue within and without Iowa shall be determined for each individual freight movement by taking the proportion of car and locornotive miles traveled in Iowa to total car and locornotive miles traveled within and without Iowa for the individual freight movement and applying such individual percentage to the gross receipts derived from the individual freight movement. Empty mileage that does not produce gross receipts shall not be used.

b. Passenger revenue. Passenger revenue within and without Iowa shall be determined by use of the same principles applicable to freight revenue.

c. Switching revenue. Unless the switching revenue is accounted for in the freight revenue or passenger revenue categories, it shall be determined in accordance with subrule 54.6(1).

d. Miscellaneous revenue. Nonexclusive examples of miscellaneous revenues include demurrage revenue, station services revenue, storage revenue, railway property rental, joint facility revenue, and amounts received from government authorities. These revenues shall be attributed to the state in which they were earned.

e. All of the above classes of revenues shall be aggregated and combined with other gross receipts or gross revenues from sources within Iowa to cornpose the numerator The denominator shall be computed in accordance with 701-subrule 54.2(2).

(2) Airline, truck and bus line companies, water transportation companies, freight car and equipment companies shall determine their Iowa proportion of gross receipts or gross revenues derived from transportation operations by taking the proportion of mileage traveled in Iowa to the total mileage traveled within and without the state.

(3) Oil, gasoline, gas and other pipeline companies shall determine the proportion of transportation revenue derived from interstate business that is attributable to Iowa by the proportion of Iowa traffic units to total traffic units. The "traffic unit" of an oil pipeline is defined as the transportation of one barrel of oil for a distance of one mile; the "traffic unit" of a gasoline pipeline is defined to be the transportation of one barrel of gasoline for a distance of one mile; and a "traffic unit" of a gas pipeline is defined to be the transportation of 1,000 cubic feet or one dekatherm of natural or casinghead gas for a distance of one mile. The taxpayer may use either 1,000 cubic feet or one dekatherm as a "traffic unit" as long as the numerator and denominator are computed on the same basis. Any other pipeline company will use the definition of the "traffic unit" which would most nearly describe the substance transported.

(4) Telecommunications companies shall determine the Iowa proportion of gross receipts or gross revenues from telecommunication operations by the following methodology:

a. Gross receipts or gross revenues from local service in this state are attributable to this state.

b. Gross receipts or gross revenues from toll services originating and terminating in this state are attributable to this state.

c. Gross receipts or gross revenues from interstate toll services originating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

d. Gross receipts or gross revenues from interstate toll services terminating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

e. Gross receipts or gross revenues from the sale of phone cards in this state are attributable to this state.

f. Gross receipts or gross revenues from the sale of telecommunication services to resellers of telecommunication services for telecommunication services used for local service in this state are attributable to this state.

g. Gross receipts or gross revenues from the sale of telecommunication services to resellers of telecommunication services for telecommunication services used for toll services originating and terminating in this state are attributable to this state.

h. Gross receipts or gross revenues from the sale of telecommunication services to resellers of telecommunication services for telecommunication services used for interstate toll services originating in this state are attributable to this state.

i. Gross receipts or gross revenues from Internet access originating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

j. Gross receipts or gross revenues from cellular phone services originating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

k. Gross receipts or gross revenues from personal communication services originating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

l.. Gross receipts or gross revenues from paging services originating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

m. Services originating in this state and charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

n. Gross receipts from cable television, satellite television, and community antenna television services, including gross receipts from providing Internet access, charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state.

o. Any other gross receipts or gross revenues from fees, access charges, toll services or other charges for communication services charged to an Iowa service address are attributable to this state. SeeGoldberg V. Sweet,488 U.S. 252, 102 L.Ed. 2d 607, 109 S.Ct. 582 (1989).

p. All of the above classes of revenues shall be aggregated and combined with other gross receipts or gross revenues from sources within Iowa to cornpose the numerator The denominator shall be computed in accordance with 701-subrule 54.2(2).

q. "telecommunicating" is an electronic mode of transmitting data, information, and audio and video signals and includes but is not limited to both one-way and two-way signals using land-line phones, cellular phones, paging devices, satellites, and microwave systems. Telecommunications is a medium or mode of delivery, not the actual content of the information transmitted over the medium. telecommunicating does not include broadcast radio and television. See subrule 54.7(5).

r. The term "telecommunication companies" includes but is not limited to: telephone companies; resellers of telephone services; cellular phone companies; personal communication service providers; paging service providers; radio communication providers; Internet access providers; cable television, satellite television, community antenna television companies; and other companies of a similar type.

If a taxpayer feels that the allocation and apportionment method as prescribed by Iowa Code subsection 422.33(2) and in this subrule, in the taxpayer's case, results in an injustice, the taxpayer may petition the department for permission to determine the taxable net income, both allocable and apportionable, to this state on some other basis. See rule 701-54.9(422).

(5) Radio and television companies doing business within and without Iowa shall determine their Iowa proportion of gross receipts or gross revenues derived from broadcasting operations by taking the proportion of the Iowa population served by broadcasting to the total population served by broadcasting. The population served by broadcasting shall be determined by a recognized market survey such as Arbitron. As used in this rule the term "population served by broadcasting" includes all of the residents of the broadcasting area, whether or not these residents individually elect to receive the broadcasts.

EXAMPLE: A television company has its studio and transmitter in state A. The activities of the employees and corporate officers of the television company in Iowa include solicitation of advertising, covering special news events and covering athletic events. The broadcast signal also reaches state B but the television company does not conduct any activities in state B. The population served by broadcasting is as follows: 100,000 in Iowa, 100,000 in state A, and 50,000 in state B for a total population served by broadcasting of 250,000. The television company's apportionment factor would be computed as follows: The numerator would be the Iowa population served by broadcasting and the denominator would be the total population served by broadcasting (100,000 ÷ 250,000 = 40%).

Subrule 54.7(5) is effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1988.

(6) Corporations in the business of publishing, selling, licensing, or distributing newspapers, magazines, periodicals, trade journals, or other printed material, or which publish, sell, license or distribute in a filmed or microfilmed image, or in an electronic media, an electronic virtual storage system or broadcasts any of the above items which have been traditionally disseminated in a printed format shall determine the Iowa portion of gross receipts by the following methodology:

a. Gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property including printed materials, electronic storage media, fees for use of an electronic virtual storage system or fees to receive a broadcast delivered, shipped or broadcast to a purchaser or a subscriber in this state.

b. Gross receipts from advertising shall be attributed to Iowa as determined by the taxpayer's circulation factor during the tax period. The circulation factor shall be determined for each individual publication of the taxpayer containing advertising and shall be equal to the ratio that the taxpayer's Iowa circulation to purchasers and subscribers of its printed material, electronic storage media, electronic virtual storage system or broadcasts containing advertising bears to its total circulation to purchasers and subscribers everywhere.

The circulation factor for an individual publication shall be determined by reference to the rating statistics as reflected in such sources as the Audit Bureau of Circulations or other comparable sources, provided that the source selected is consistently used from year to year for such purpose. If none of the foregoing sources are available, or, if available, none is in a form or content sufficient for such purposes, then the circulation factor shall be determined from the taxpayer's books and records.

c. When specific items of advertisement can be shown, upon clear and convincing evidence, to have been distributed solely to a limited regional or local geographic area of which this state is a part, the taxpayer may petition, or the director may require, that all or a portion of such receipts be attributed to this state on the basis of a regional or local geographic area circulation factor and not upon the basis of the circulation factor provided by"b " above.

Such attribution shall be based on the ratio that the taxpayer's circulation to purchasers and subscribers located in this state bears to its total circulation to purchasers and subscribers located within such regional or local geographic area. This alternative attribution method shall be permitted only on the condition that such receipts are not double counted or otherwise included in the numerator of any other state.

(7) Utility companies shall determine their Iowa gross receipts or gross revenues from transporting natural or casinghead gas for others that is attributable to Iowa by the proportion of Iowa traffic units to total traffic units. The "traffic unit" is defined to be the transportation of 1,000 cubic feet or one dekatherm of natural or casinghead gas for a distance of one mile. Where the transportation is less than one mile, the taxpayer must accumulate the fractions of one mile into one-mile increments for purposes of computing "traffic units." The taxpayer may use either 1,000 cubic feet or one dekatherm as a "traffic unit" as long as the numerator and denominator are computed on the same basis.

(8) Utility companies shall determine their Iowa gross receipts or gross revenues from transporting electricity for others that is attributable to Iowa by the proportion of Iowa traffic units to total traffic units. The "traffic unit" is defined to be the transportation of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity for a distance of one mile. Where the transportation is less than one mile, the taxpayer must accumulate the fractions of one mile into one-mile increments for purposes of computing "traffic units."

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 422.33.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-54.7