Section 701.42.26. Wage-benefits tax credit.

Effective for tax years ending on or after June 9, 2006, a wage-benefits tax credit equal to a percentage of the annual wages and benefits paid for a qualified new job created by the location or expansion of the business in Iowa is available for qualified businesses.

         42.26(1) Definitions. The following definitions are applicable to this rule:

“Average county wage”  means the annualized average hourly wage calculated by the Iowa department of economic development using the most current four quarters of wage and employment information as provided in the Quarterly Covered Wage and Employment Data report provided by the department of workforce development. Agricultural/mining and governmental employment categories are deleted in compiling the wage information.

“Benefits”  means all of the following:

            1.      Medical and dental insurance plans.

            2.      Pension and profit-sharing plans.

            3.      Child care services.

            4.      Life insurance coverage.

            5.      Vision insurance plan.

            6.      Disability coverage.

“Department”  means the Iowa department of revenue.

“Full-time”  means the equivalent of employment of one person:

            1.      For 8 hours per day for a five-day, 40-hour workweek for 52 weeks per year, including paid holidays, vacations, and other paid leave, or

            2.      The number of hours or days per week, including paid holidays, vacations, and other paid leave, currently established by schedule, custom or otherwise, as constituting a week of full-time work for the kind of service an individual performs for an employing unit.

“Grow Iowa values fund”  means the grow Iowa values fund created in Iowa Code Supplement section 15G.108.

“Nonqualified new job”  means any one of the following:

            1.      A job previously filled by the same employee in Iowa.

            2.      A job that was relocated from another location in Iowa.

            3.      A job that is created as a result of a consolidation, merger, or restructuring of a business entity if the job does not represent a new job in Iowa.

“Qualified new job”    or   “job creation”   means a job that meets all of the following criteria:

            1.      Is a new full-time job that has not existed in the business in Iowa within the previous 12 months.

            2.      Is filled by a new employee for at least 12 months.

            3.      Is filled by a resident of the state of Iowa.

            4.      Is not created as a result of a change in ownership.

            5.      Was created on or after June 9, 2005.

“Retail business”  means a business which sells its product directly to a consumer.

“Retained qualified new job”    or   “job retention”   means the continued employment, after the first 12 months of employment, of the same employee in a qualified new job for another 12 months.

“Service business”  means a business which is not engaged in the sale of tangible personal property, and which provides services to a local consumer market and does not have a significant proportion of its sales coming from outside Iowa.

         42.26(2) Calculation of credit. A business which is not a retail or service business may claim the wage-benefits tax credit which is determined as follows:

            a.               If the annual wages and benefits for the qualified new job equal less than 130 percent of the average county wage, the credit is 0 percent of the annual wage and benefits paid.

            b.               If the annual wages and benefits for the qualified new job equal at least 130 percent but less than 160 percent of the average county wage, the credit is 5 percent of the annual wage and benefits paid for each qualified new job.

            c.               If the annual wages and benefits for the qualified new job equal at least 160 percent of the average county wage, the credit is 10 percent of the annual wage and benefits paid for each qualified new job.

If the business is a partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, or estate or trust electing to have the income taxed directly to the individual, an individual may claim the tax credit. The amount claimed by the individual shall be based upon the pro rata share of the individual’s earnings of the partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, or estate or trust.

Any credit in excess of the taxpayer’s tax liability is refundable. In lieu of claiming the refund, the taxpayer may elect to have the overpayment credited to the tax liability for the following tax year.

         42.26(3) Application for the tax credit; tax credit certificate; amount of tax credit available.

            a.               In order to claim the wage-benefits tax credit, the business must submit an application to the department along with information on the qualified new job or retained qualified new job. The application cannot be submitted until the end of the twelfth month after the qualified job was filled. For example, if the new job was created on June 9, 2005, the application cannot be submitted until June 9, 2006. The following information must be submitted in the application:

             (1)             Name, address and federal identification number of the business.

             (2)             A description of the activities of the business. If applicable, the proportion of the sales of the business which come from outside Iowa shall be included.

             (3)             The amount of wages and benefits paid to each employee for each new job for the previous 12 months.

             (4)             A computation of the amount of credit being requested.

             (5)             The address and state of residence of each new employee.

             (6)             The date that the qualified new job was filled.

             (7)             An indication of whether the job is a qualified new job or a retained qualified new job for which an application was filed for a previous year.

             (8)             The type of tax for which the credit will be applied.

             (9)             If the business is a partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, or estate or trust, a schedule of the partners, shareholders, members or beneficiaries. This schedule shall include the names, addresses and federal identification numbers of the partners, shareholders, members or beneficiaries, along with their percentage of the pro rata share of earnings of the partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, or estate or trust.

            b.              Upon receipt of the application, the department has 45 days either to approve or deny the application. If the department does not act on the application within 45 days, the application is deemed approved. If the department denies the application, the business may appeal the decision to the Iowa economic development board within 30 days of the notice of denial.

            c.               If the application is approved, or if the Iowa economic development board approves the application that was previously denied by the department, a tax credit certificate will be issued by the department to the business, subject to the availability of the amount of credits that may be issued. The tax credit certificate shall contain the name, address and tax identification number of the business (or individual, estate or trust, if applicable), the date of the qualified new job(s), the wage and benefits paid for each job(s) for the 12-month period, the amount of the credit, the tax period for which the credit may be applied, and the type of tax for which the credit will be applied.

            d.               The tax credit certificates that are issued in a fiscal year cannot exceed $10 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, and shall not exceed $4 million for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011. The tax credit certificates are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, if tax credit certificates have already been issued for the $10 million limit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, any applications for tax credit certificates received after the $10 million limit has been reached will be denied. Similarly, if tax credit certificates have already been issued for the $4 million limit for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011, any applications for tax credit certificates received after the $4 million limit has been reached will be denied. If a business failed to receive all or a part of the tax credit due to the $10 million or $4 million limitation, the business may reapply for the tax credit for the retained new job for a subsequent tax period.

            e.               A business which qualifies for the tax credit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, is eligible to receive the tax credit certificate for each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011, subject to the $4 million limit for tax credits for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011, if the business retains the qualified new job during each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011. The business must reapply by June 30 of each fiscal year for the tax credit, and the percentage of the wages and benefits allowed for the credit set forth in subrule 42.26(2) for the first year is applicable for each subsequent period. Preference will be given in issuing tax credit certificates for those businesses that retain qualified new jobs, and preference will be given in the order in which applications were filed for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. Therefore, those businesses which received the first $4 million of tax credits for the year ending June 30, 2007, in which the qualified jobs were created will automatically receive a tax credit for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011, as long as the qualified jobs are retained and an application is completed.

            f.                For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2008, through June 30, 2011, if credits become available because the jobs were not retained by businesses which received the first $4 million of credits for the year ending June 30, 2007, an application which was originally denied will be considered in the order in which the application was received for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007.

Example: Wage-benefits tax credits of $4 million are issued for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, relating to applications filed between July 1, 2006, and March 31, 2007. For the next fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the same businesses that received the $4 million in wage-benefits tax credits filed applications totaling $3 million for the retained jobs for which the application for the prior year was filed on or before March 31, 2007. The first $3 million of the available $4 million will be allowed to these same businesses. The remaining $1 million that is still available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, will be allowed for those retained jobs for which applications for the prior year were filed starting on April 1, 2007, until the remaining $1 million in tax credits is issued.

            g.               A business may apply in writing to the Iowa economic development board for a waiver of the average wage and benefit requirement. If a waiver is granted, the business must provide the department with the waiver and it must be attached to the application.

            h.               A business may receive other federal, state, and local incentives and tax credits in addition to the wage-benefits tax credit. However, a business that receives a wage-benefits tax credit cannot receive tax incentives under the high quality job creation program set forth in Iowa Code chapter 15 or moneys from the grow Iowa values fund.

         42.26(4) Examples. The following noninclusive examples illustrate how this rule applies:

Example 1: Business A operates a grocery store and hires five new employees, each of whom will earn wages and benefits in excess of 130 percent of the average county wage. Business A would not qualify for the wage-benefits tax credit because Business A is a retail business.

Example 2: Business B operates an accounting firm and hires two new accountants, each of whom will earn wages and benefits in excess of 160 percent of the average county wage. The accounting firm provides services to clients wholly within Iowa. Business B would not qualify for the wage-benefits tax credit because it is a service business. The majority of its sales are generated from within the state of Iowa and thus Business B, because it is a service business, is not eligible for the credit.

Example 3: Business C operates a software development business and hires two new programmers, each of whom will earn wages and benefits in excess of 160 percent of the average county wage. Over 50 percent of the customers of Business C are located outside Iowa. Business C would qualify for the wage-benefits tax credit because a majority of its sales are coming from outside the state, even though Business C is engaged in the performance of services.

Example 4: Business D is a manufacturer that hires a new employee in Clayton County, Iowa, on July 8, 2005. The average county wage for Clayton County for the third quarter of 2005 is $11.86 per hour. If the average county wage per hour for Clayton County is $11.95 for the fourth quarter of 2005, $12.05 for the first quarter of 2006, and $12.14 for the second quarter of 2006, the annualized average county wage for this 12-month period is $12.00 per hour. This wage equates to an average annual wage of $24,960 ($12.00 × 40 hours × 52 weeks). In order for Business D to qualify for the 5 percent wage-benefits tax credit, the new employee must receive wages and benefits totaling $32,448 (130 percent of $24,960) for the 12-month period from July 8, 2005, through July 7, 2006. In order for Business D to qualify for the 10 percent wage-benefits tax credit, the new employee must receive wages and benefits totaling $39,936 (160 percent of $24,960) for the 12-month period from July 8, 2005, through July 7, 2006.

Example 5: Business E is a manufacturer that hires three new employees in Grundy County, Iowa, on July 1, 2005. If the average county wage for the 12-month period from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, is $13.75 per hour in Grundy County, this wage equates to an average county wage of $28,600. The wages and benefits for each of these three new employees is $40,000 for the period from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, which is 140 percent of the average county wage. Business E is entitled to a wage-benefits tax credit of $2,000 for each employee ($40,000 × 5 percent), for a total wage-benefits tax credit of $6,000. If Business E files on a calendar-year basis, the $6,000 wage-benefits tax credit can be claimed on the tax return for the period ending December 31, 2006.

Example 6: Business F is a manufacturer that hires ten new employees on July 1, 2005, and qualifies for the wage-benefits tax credit because the wages and benefits paid exceed 130 percent of the average county wage. Business F receives a wage-benefits tax credit in July 2006 for these ten employees, which can be used on the tax return for the period ending December 31, 2006. On August 31, 2006, two of the employees leave the business and are replaced by two new employees. Business F is entitled to a wage-benefits tax credit for only eight employees in July 2007 because only eight employees continued employment for the subsequent 12 months in a job which meets the definition of a retained qualified new job. Business F cannot request a wage-benefits tax credit for the two employees hired on August 31, 2006. Business F cannot request the wage-benefits tax credit because these two full-time jobs existed in the business within the previous 12 months in Iowa, and these jobs do not meet the definition of a qualified new job or retained qualified new job.

Example 7: Business G is a manufacturer that hires ten new employees on July 1, 2005, and qualifies for the wage-benefits tax credit because the wages and benefits paid exceed 130 percent of the average county wage. Business G receives a wage-benefits tax credit in July 2006 for these ten employees equal to 5 percent of the wages and benefits paid. On October 1, 2006, Business G hires an additional five employees, each of whom receives wages and benefits in excess of 130 percent of the average county wage. Business G can apply for the wage-benefits tax credit on October 1, 2007, for these five employees, since these employees have now been employed for 12 months. However, the credit may not be allowed if more than $4 million of retained job tax credits have been issued for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.

Example 8: Assume the same facts as Example 6, except that the $10 million limit of tax credits has already been met for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, and Business F hired five new employees on August 31, 2006. Business F can apply for the wage-benefits tax credit for the three employees on August 31, 2007, a number which is above the ten full-time jobs originally created, but Business F may not receive the tax credit if more than $4 million of retained job tax credits have been issued for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.

Example 9: Assume the same facts as Example 7, except that the ten employees hired on July 1, 2005, by Business G received wages and benefits equal to 155 percent of the average county wage, and the five employees hired on October 1, 2006, by Business G received wages equal to 161 percent of the average county wage. Business G can apply for the tax credit on October 1, 2007, equal to 10 percent of the wages and benefits paid for the employees hired on October 1, 2006. On July 1, 2007, Business G can reapply for the tax credit equal to 5 percent of the wages and benefits paid only for the ten employees originally hired on July 1, 2005, even if the wages and benefits for these ten employees exceed 160 percent of the average county wage for the period from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007.

         42.26(5) Repeal of the wage-benefits tax credit. The wage-benefits tax credit is repealed effective July 1, 2008. However, the wage-benefits tax credit is still available through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, as provided in subrule 42.26(3), paragraphs “d,” “e,” and “f.” A business is not entitled to a wage-benefits tax credit for a qualified new job created on or after July 1, 2008.

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code chapter 15I and section 422.11L.

[ARC 8702B, IAB 4/21/10, effective 5/26/10]