Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-215.15
The sales price of computers, computer peripherals, machinery, equipment, replacement parts, supplies, and materials used to construct or self-construct computers, computer peripherals, machinery, equipment, replacement parts, and supplies is exempt from sales and use tax when the property is directly and primarily used in processing by a manufacturer.
EXAMPLE A: Company A manufactures fine furniture. Company A owns a grove of walnut trees that it uses as raw material. Company A's employees cut the trees, transport the logs to Company A's facility, store the logs in a warehouse to begin the curing process, and eventually take the logs to Company A's sawmill. The walnut trees are real property while they are growing. Thus, no "production of raw materials" has occurred with regard to the trees until they have been severed from the soil and transformed into logs. Processing of the logs begins when they are placed on vehicles for transport to Company A's factory. However, if the transport vehicles are "vehicles subject to registration," the vehicles are not exempt from the fee for new registration under this rule (see subparagraph 230.14(2)"g"(6)).
EXAMPLE B: Company A from the previous example also buys mahogany logs from a supplier in Honduras. Company A uses its equipment to offload the logs from railroad cars at its facility. Company A then stores and saws the logs as previously described in EXAMPLE A. Processing begins when Company A offloads the logs from the railroad cars.
EXAMPLE C: Company C is a microbrewery. It uses a variety of kettles, vats, tanks, tubs, and other containers to mix, cook, ferment, settle, age, and store the beer it brews. Company C also uses a variety of pipes and pumps to move the beer among the various containers involved in the activity of brewing. All stages of this brewing are part of processing, including fermentation or aging (the transformation of the raw materials from one state to another) as well as the storage of hops in a bin and the storage of beer prior to bottling (the holding of materials in an existing state). Any movement of the product between containers is also a part of processing.
EXAMPLE D: After the brewing process is complete, Company C places its beer in various containers, stores the beer, and moves the beer to Company C's customers by a common carrier that picks up the beer at Company C's facility. Company C's activities of placing the beer into bottles, cans, and kegs, storing the beer after packaging, and moving the beer by use of a forklift to the common carrier's pickup site are part of processing.
"Construction contracting" means engaging in or performing a construction contract as defined in rule 701-219.8 (423).
"Manufacturer" means the same as defined in Iowa Code section 423.3(47).
"Transporting for hire" means the service of moving persons or property for consideration, including but not limited to the use of a "personal transportation service" as that term is described in Iowa Code section 423.2(6) and rule 701-211.5 (423).
EXAMPLE 1: Company A makes widgets and repairs widgets damaged during use by its customers. Company A generates 70 percent of its revenue making widgets, and its employees spend 80 percent of their time making widgets. The remainder of its revenue and time are attributed to widget repair. Company A is not primarily engaged in "repairing tangible personal property or real property" (Iowa Code section 423.3(47)"d"(4)(c)(ii)) or any of the other enumerated activities from Iowa Code section 423.3(47)"d"(4)(c) because only 30 percent of its revenue and 20 percent of employee time are attributed to widget repair.
EXAMPLE 2A: Company B makes concrete and sells it for resale or directly to individual consumers without entering into a construction contract. Company B generates 100 percent of its revenue from such sales of concrete, and its employees spend 95 percent of their time making concrete during the 12-month period after it claims to be a manufacturer. Company B is not excluded from being considered a manufacturer because Company B's production and sale of concrete are not part of construction contracting (Iowa Code section 423.3(47)"d"(4)(c)(i)).
EXAMPLE 2B: Company B begins construction contracting to sell its concrete. After 12 months of construction contracting (Iowa Code section 423.3(47)"d"(4)(c)(i)), Company B generates 55 percent of its revenue from construction contracting and 45 percent from resale sales or sales directly to consumers and spends 40 percent of its time performing construction contracts. Company B is no longer considered a manufacturer starting 12 months from the date it began construction contracting because it generates more than 50 percent of its gross revenue from construction contracting.
"Attributable to the premises" means sales of tangible personal property at the premises or shipped from the premises to another location for sale or eventual sale.
"Premises" means any contiguous parcels, as defined in Iowa Code section 426C.1, which are owned, leased, rented, or occupied by a business or its affiliates and are operated by that business or its affiliates for a common business purpose. A "common business purpose" means the participation in any stage of manufacturing, production, or sale of a product. Whether a business is operating for a common business purpose is a fact-based determination that will depend on the individual circumstances at issue.
Retail sales sourced to the premises
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Gross sales attributable to the premises
If the result is less than or equal to 0.5 (or 50 percent), the premises is not primarily used to make retail sales. If the result is greater than 0.5, the premises is presumed to be primarily used to make retail sales.
The department's determination shall be a fact-based determination based on the information provided by a manufacturer and the individual circumstances at issue.
EXAMPLE 1: Company A owns a centralized facility where it makes widgets and distributes them to several of its own retail stores for retail sale. The retail stores are not contiguous to the centralized facility. Company A purchases a widget maker for its centralized facility and seeks to claim this exemption. Because the widgets sold are sold at the retail stores, the sales of those widgets are sourced to the retail stores where the sales occur. Therefore, none of the sales are retail sales sourced to the centralized facility. Because Company A does not make retail sales sourced to the centralized facility, the centralized facility is not primarily used to make retail sales.
EXAMPLE 2A: Company A makes widgets at its premises in Iowa, known as Location 1. Company A sells its widgets to retailers for resale and also makes some retail sales that are sourced to Location 1.
Twelve months ago, Company A purchased and put into use at Location 1 a new molding machine for making new widgets. Company A paid tax on the sales price of the molding machine at the time of purchase. During the 12-month period after Company A first used the molding machine, 2 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 1 were from retail sales sourced to Location 1 and 98 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 1 were from sales of widgets to retailers.
Because less than half of the sales attributable to Location 1 during the 12-month period after the molding machine was first used at Location 1 were generated from retail sales sourced to Location 1, Location 1 is not primarily used to make retail sales. Therefore, if Company A's use of the molding machine satisfies all other requirements of the exemption, Company A's activities occurring on the premises constitute manufacturing.
EXAMPLE 2B: Same facts as in EXAMPLE 2A, except that Company A also owns a second, noncontiguous premises in Iowa, known as Location 2. At Location 2, Company A operates a factory that makes the same types of widgets as Location 1. Company A also makes substantial retail sales that are sourced to Location 2.
Twelve months ago, Company A purchased new molding machines for Location 1 and Location 2. Company A paid tax on the sales price of the molding machines. During this 12-month period, 2 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 1 were retail sales sourced to Location 1 and 98 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 1 were from sales of widgets to distributors. Also during this 12-month period, 60 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 2 were retail sales sourced to Location 2 and 40 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 2 were from sales of widgets to distributors.
With respect to Location 1, the outcome is the same as in EXAMPLE 1A. Because less than half of the sales attributable to Location 1 during the 12-month period after the molding machine was used at Location 1 were generated from retail sales sourced to Location 1, Location 1 is not primarily used to make retail sales.
However, Location 2 is presumed to be primarily used to make retail sales because more than half of the gross sales attributable to Location 2 are from retail sales sourced to Location 2.
EXAMPLE 2C: Same facts as in EXAMPLE 2B. Company A decides to purchase new molding machines for both Location 1 and Location 2. Relying on the exemption determinations for the prior year, Company A pays sales tax on the purchase price of the molding machine for Location 2 but tenders an exemption certificate for the purchase of the molding machine for Location 1 and does not pay sales tax on that transaction.
Twelve months pass since the new molding machines were used at their respective locations. At Location 1, the gross sales attributable to the premises and retail sales sourced to the premises remained the same. However, at Location 2, Company A experienced a decrease in on-site retail sales and an increase in distribution sales. Because of a shift in sales, 45 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 2 were retail sales sourced to Location 2, and 55 percent of the gross sales attributable to Location 2 were from sales of widgets to distributors.
Therefore, this year, Location 2 is no longer presumed to be primarily used to make retail sales because in the 12 months after the machine was used at Location 2, less than half of the gross sales attributable to Location 2 were from retail sales sourced to Location 2.
EXAMPLE 3A: Company A owns a premises on which it makes baseball bats. A portion of the premises is leased to Company B, which operates a retail store on the premises that sells clothing and is not commonly understood to be a manufacturer. Company A and Company B are unaffiliated entities.
Company A is seeking to purchase several new lathes to use in its bat production. In the last year, 95 percent of Company A's gross sales attributable to the premises came from selling bats to distributors, and 5 percent of Company A's gross sales attributable to the premises were from retail sales at a small on-site location. Also in the last year, 100 percent of Company B's gross sales attributable to the premises were from on-site retail sales.
Because Company A and Company B are not affiliated in any way, none of Company B's sales are attributable to Company A. Therefore, for purposes of Company A's determining its eligibility to claim the exemption, Company A's premises are not primarily used to make retail sales because less than half of its gross sales attributable to the premises are from retail sales sourced to the premises.
EXAMPLE 3B: Same facts as in EXAMPLE 3A, except that Company B is an affiliate of Company A.
The result is the same; while Company B is an affiliate of Company A, the premises are not being operated for a common business purpose because Company B is not selling any of the bats manufactured by Company A. Therefore, none of Company B's business is attributable to Company A. For purposes of Company A's determining its eligibility to claim the exemption, Company A's premises are not primarily used to make retail sales because less than half of its gross sales attributable to the premises are from retail sales sourced to the premises.
EXAMPLE 3C: Same facts as in EXAMPLE 3A, except that Company B is an affiliate of Company A and instead of operating a clothing store, Company B operates a sporting goods store where it sells some of the bats manufactured by Company A.
In this case, Company B's sales are attributable to Company A because both companies use the premises for a common business purpose: the sale of baseball bats manufactured by Company A. Therefore, the gross sales attributable to the premises of both Company A and Company B must be included in Company A's gross sales attributable to the premises. The premises will be presumed to be primarily used to make retail sales if the combined retail sales by Company A and Company B that are sourced to the premises exceed 50 percent of the gross sales attributable to the premises.
EXAMPLE 4: Company A owns a premises not included in the list above at which it makes widgets. Company A sells 15 percent of its widgets by delivery to customers' homes, 30 percent to wholesalers, and the remaining 55 percent directly to customers who pick up widgets at the premises. Company A's premises is presumed to be primarily used to make retail sales.
Company A dedicates 75 percent of the square footage of the premises to the production of widgets, 20 percent to storage, and 5 percent to a loading dock. Company A employs a total of 50 people, 40 of whom work on the production floor making widgets. Company A's production staff accounts for 80 percent of its total wages and salaries paid to all employees. The cost of operating the widget production area accounts for 90 percent of Company A's total expenses. Upon claiming this exemption, Company A provides information satisfactory to the department to demonstrate these facts. Company A qualifies for the exemption.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 423.3(47)"a"(1).
Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-215.15