(1)General rule. An investment tax credit of up to 10 percent of the new investment which is directly related to new jobs created by the location or expansion of an eligible business is available for businesses approved by the economic development authority under the new jobs and income program and the enterprise zone program. The new jobs and income program was repealed on July 1, 2005, and has been replaced with the high quality job creation program. See rule 701-42.29 (15) for information on the investment tax credit under the high quality job creation program. Any investment tax credit earned by businesses approved under the new jobs and income program prior to July 1, 2005, remains valid and can be claimed on tax returns filed after July 1, 2005. The credit is available for machinery and equipment or improvements to real property placed in service after May 1, 1994. The credit shall be taken in the year the qualifying asset is placed in service. The enterprise zone program was repealed on July 1, 2014. Any investment tax credit earned by businesses approved under the enterprise zone program prior to July 1, 2014, remains valid and can be claimed on tax returns filed after July 1, 2014. For business applications received by the economic development authority on or after July 1, 1999, purchases of real property made in conjunction with the location or expansion of an eligible business, the cost of land and any buildings and structures located on the land will be considered to be new investment which is directly related to new jobs for purposes of determining the amount of new investment upon which an investment tax credit may be taken. For projects approved on or after July 1, 2005, under the enterprise zone program, the investment tax credit will be amortized over a five-year period, as described in subrule 42.29(2). For eligible businesses approved by the Iowa department of economic development on or after March 17, 2004, certain lease payments made by eligible businesses to a third-party developer will be considered to be new investment for purposes of computing the investment tax credit. The eligible business shall enter into a lease agreement with the third-party developer for a minimum of ten years. The investment tax credit is based on the annual base rent paid to a third-party developer by the eligible business for a period not to exceed ten years. The total costs of the annual base rent payments for the ten-year period cannot exceed the cost of the land and the third-party developer's cost to build or renovate the building used by the eligible business. The annual base rent is defined as the total lease payment less taxes, insurance and operating and maintenance expenses.
Any credit in excess of the tax liability for the tax year may be carried forward seven years or until used, whichever is the earlier.
If the business is a partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, or an estate or trust electing to have the income taxed directly to an individual, an individual may claim the credit. The amount of the credit claimed by the individual must be based on the individual's pro rata share of the individual's earnings of the partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, or estate or trust.
(2)Investment tax credit-value-added agricultural products or biotechnology-related processes. For tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2001, an eligible business whose project primarily involves the production of value-added agricultural products may elect to receive a refund for all or a portion of an unused investment tax credit. For tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2001, but before July 1, 2003, an eligible business includes a cooperative described in Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code which is not required to file an Iowa corporation income tax return and whose project primarily involves the production of ethanol. For tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2003, an eligible business includes a cooperative described in Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code which is not required to file an Iowa corporation income tax return. For tax years ending on or after July 1, 2005, an eligible business approved under the enterprise zone program whose project primarily involves biotechnology-related processes may elect to receive a refund for all or a portion of an unused investment tax credit. Eligible businesses shall apply to the Iowa department of economic development for tax credit certificates between May 1 and May 15 of each fiscal year through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009. The election to receive a refund of all or a portion of an unused investment tax credit is no longer available beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010. Only those businesses that have completed projects before the May 1 filing date may apply for a tax credit certificate. The Iowa department of economic development will not issue tax credit certificates for more than $4 million during a fiscal year for this program and eligible businesses described in subrule 42.29(2). If applications are received for more than $4 million, the applicants shall receive certificates for a prorated amount.
The economic development authority will issue tax credit certificates within a reasonable period of time. Tax credit certificates are valid for the tax year following project completion. The tax credit certificate must be included with the tax return for the tax year during which the tax credit is claimed. The tax credit certificate shall not be transferred, except for a cooperative described in Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code which is required to file an Iowa corporation income tax return and whose project primarily involves the production of ethanol for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2002, or for a cooperative described in Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code which is required to file an Iowa corporation income tax return for tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2003.
For value-added agricultural projects, for a cooperative that is not required to file an Iowa income tax return because it is exempt from federal income tax, the cooperative must submit a list of its members and the share of each member's interest in the cooperative. The Iowa department of economic development will issue a tax credit certificate to each member on the list.
See 701-subrule 52.10(4) for examples illustrating how this subrule is applied.
For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2002, but before July 1, 2003, a cooperative described in Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code which is required to file an Iowa corporation income tax return and whose project primarily involves the production of ethanol may elect to transfer all or a portion of its tax credit to its members. For tax years beginning on or after July 1, 2003, a cooperative described in Section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code which is required to file an Iowa corporation income tax return may elect to transfer all or a portion of its tax credit to its members. The amount of tax credit transferred and claimed by a member shall be based upon the pro rata share of the member's earnings in the cooperative. The economic development authority will issue a tax credit certificate to each member of the cooperative to whom the credit was transferred provided that tax credit certificates which total no more than $4 million are issued during a fiscal year. The tax credit certificate must be included with the tax return for the tax year during which the tax credit is claimed.
(3)Repayment of credits. If an eligible business fails to maintain the requirements of the new jobs and income program or the enterprise zone program, the taxpayer may be required to repay all or a portion of the tax incentives taken on Iowa returns. Irrespective of the fact that the statute of limitations to assess the taxpayer for repayment of the tax credits may have expired, the department may proceed to collect the tax incentives forfeited by failure to maintain the requirements of the new jobs and income program or the enterprise zone program because this repayment is a recovery of an incentive, rather than an adjustment to the taxpayer's tax liability. Details on the calculation of the repayment can be found in 261-subrule 187.5(4) of the administrative rules of the economic development authority. If the business is a partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate or trust where the income of the taxpayer is taxed to the individual owner(s) of the business, the department may proceed to collect the tax incentives against the partners, members, shareholders or beneficiaries to whom the tax incentives were passed through. See Decision of the Administrative Law Judge in Damien & Colette Trebilcock, et al., Docket No. 11DORF 042-044, June 11, 2012. If the eligible business, within five years of purchase, sells, disposes of, razes, or otherwise renders unusable all or a part of the land, buildings, or other existing structures for which a tax credit was claimed under this rule, the income tax liability of the eligible business for the year in which all or part of the property is sold, disposed of, razed, or otherwise rendered unusable shall be increased by one of the following amounts:
a. One hundred percent of the investment tax credit claimed if the property ceases to be eligible for the tax credit within one full year after being placed in service.b. Eighty percent of the investment tax credit claimed if the property ceases to be eligible for the tax credit within two full years after being placed in service.c. Sixty percent of the investment tax credit claimed if the property ceases to be eligible for the tax credit within three full years after being placed in service.d. Forty percent of the investment tax credit claimed if the property ceases to be eligible for the tax credit within four full years after being placed in service.e. Twenty percent of the investment tax credit claimed if the property ceases to be eligible for the tax credit within five full years after being placed in service. This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 15.333 as amended by 2010 Iowa Acts, Senate File 2380.
Iowa Admin. Code r. 701-304.14
ARC 8702B, IAB 4/21/10, effective 5/26/10; ARC 9104B, IAB 9/22/10, effective 10/27/10; ARC 1744C, IAB 11/26/14, effective 12/31/14; Editorial change: IAC Supplement 11/2/22