Section 701.42.53. Workforce housing tax incentives program.

Effective July 1, 2014, a business which qualifies under the workforce housing tax incentives program is eligible to receive tax incentives for individual income tax. The workforce housing tax incentives program replaces the eligible housing business enterprise zone program. An eligible business under the workforce housing tax incentives program must be approved by the economic development authority and must meet the requirements of 2014 Iowa Acts, House File 2448, section 15. The administrative rules for the workforce housing tax incentives program for the economic development authority may be found at 261—Chapter 48.

         42.53(1) Definitions.

“Costs directly related” means expenditures that are incurred for construction of a housing project to the extent that they are attributable directly to the improvement of the property or its structures. “Costs directly related” includes expenditures for property acquisition, site preparation work, surveying, construction materials, construction labor, architectural services, engineering services, building permits, building inspection fees, and interest accrued on a construction loan during the time period allowed for project completion under an agreement entered into pursuant to the program. “Costs directly related” does not include expenditures for furnishings, appliances, accounting services, legal services, loan origination and other financing costs, syndication fees and related costs, developer fees, or the costs associated with selling or renting the dwelling units whether incurred before or after completion of the housing project.

“Qualifying new investment” means costs that are directly related to the acquisition, repair, rehabilitation, or redevelopment of a housing project in this state. For purposes of this rule, “costs directly related to acquisition” includes the costs associated with the purchase of real property or other structures. “Qualifying new investment” includes costs that are directly related to new construction of dwelling units if the new construction occurs in a distressed workforce housing community. The amount of costs that may be used to compute “qualifying new investment” shall not exceed the costs used for the first $150,000 of value for each dwelling unit that is part of a housing project.

“Qualifying new investment” does not include the following:

            1.      The portion of the total cost of a housing project that is financed by federal, state, or local government tax credits, grants, forgivable loans, or other forms of financial assistance that do not require repayment, excluding the tax incentives provided under this program.

            2.      If a housing project includes the rehabilitation, repair, or redevelopment of an existing multi-use building, the portion of the total acquisition costs of the multi-use building, including a proportionate share of the total acquisition costs of the land upon which the multi-use building is situated, that are attributable to the street-level ground story that is used for a purpose that is other than residential.

            3.      Any costs, including acquisition costs, incurred before the housing project is approved by the economic development authority.

         42.53(2) Workforce housing tax incentives. The economic development authority will allocate no more than $20 million in tax incentives for this program for any fiscal year. A housing business that has entered into an agreement with the economic development authority is eligible to receive the tax incentives described in the following paragraphs:

            a.                Sales tax refund. A housing business may claim a refund of the sales and use tax described in rule 701—12.9(15).

            b.                Investment tax credit. A housing business may claim a tax credit in an amount not to exceed 10 percent of the qualifying new investment in a housing project. An individual may claim a tax credit if the housing business is a partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, or trust electing to have income taxed directly to the individual. The amount claimed by the individual shall be based upon the pro rata share of the individual’s earnings from the partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, or trust. Any tax credit in excess of the taxpayer’s liability for the tax year is not refundable but may be credited to the tax liability for the following five years or until depleted, whichever is earlier.

         42.53(3) Claiming the tax credit. The taxpayer must receive a tax credit certificate from the economic development authority to claim the eligible housing business tax credit. The tax credit certificate shall include the taxpayer’s name, the taxpayer’s address, the taxpayer’s tax identification number, the date the project was completed, the amount of the eligible housing business tax credit and the tax year for which the credit may be claimed. In addition, the tax credit certificate shall include a place for the name and tax identification number of a transferee and the amount of the tax credit being transferred, as provided in subrule 42.53(5). The tax credit certificate must be included with the income tax return for the tax period in which the housing is ready for occupancy.

         42.53(4) Basis adjustment. The increase in the basis of the property that would otherwise result from the qualifying new investment shall be reduced by the amount of the investment tax credit. For example, if a new housing project had qualifying new investment of $1 million which resulted in a $100,000 investment tax credit for Iowa tax purposes, the basis of the property for Iowa income tax purposes would be $900,000.

         42.53(5) Transfer of the credit. Tax credit certificates issued under an agreement entered into pursuant to subrule 42.53(3) may be transferred to any person. Within 90 days of transfer, the transferee shall submit the transferred tax credit certificate to the department of revenue along with a statement containing the transferee’s name, tax identification number, and address, the denomination that each replacement tax credit certificate is to carry, and any other information required by the department of revenue. However, tax credit certificate amounts of less than the minimum amount established in rule by the economic development authority shall not be transferable. Within 30 days of receiving the transferred tax credit certificate and the transferee’s statement, the department of revenue shall issue one or more replacement tax credit certificates to the transferee. Each replacement tax credit certificate must contain the information required for the original tax credit certificate and must have the same expiration date that appeared on the transferred tax credit certificate. A tax credit shall not be claimed by a transferee under this rule until a replacement tax credit certificate identifying the transferee as the proper holder has been issued. The transferee may use the amount of the tax credit transferred for any tax year the original transferor could have claimed the tax credit. Any consideration received for the transfer of the tax credit shall not be included in Iowa taxable income for individual income, corporation income or franchise tax purposes. Any consideration paid for the transfer of the tax credit shall not be deducted from Iowa taxable income for individual income, corporation income, or franchise tax purposes.

   42.53(6) Repayment of benefits. If the housing business fails to maintain the requirements of Iowa Code section 15.353, the taxpayer may be required to repay all or a portion of the tax incentives the taxpayer received. Irrespective of the fact that the statute of limitations to assess the taxpayer for repayment of the income tax credit may have expired, the department may proceed to collect the tax incentives forfeited by failure of the taxpayer to maintain the requirements of 2014 Iowa Acts, House File 2448, section 15. This repayment is required because it 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.

This rule is intended to implement 2014 Iowa Acts, House File 2448.

[ARC 1744C, IAB 11/26/14, effective 12/31/14]