15E.196  Incentives--assistance.

For purposes of determining the incentives or assistance provided in this section, "eligible business" means a business which has been approved to receive incentives and assistance by the department of economic development pursuant to application as provided in section 15E.195. The incentives and assistance provided under this division for businesses located in enterprise zones shall be for a period not to exceed ten years and shall include all of the following:

1. a.  New jobs credit from withholding, as provided in section 15.331.

b. (1)  As an alternative to paragraph "a", a business may provide a housing assistance program in the form of down payment assistance or rental assistance for employees in new jobs, as defined in section 260E.2, who buy or rent housing located within any certified enterprise zone. A business establishing a housing assistance program shall fund this program through a credit from withholding based on the wages paid to the employees participating in the housing assistance program. An amount equal to one and one-half percent of the gross wages paid by the employer to each employee participating in the housing assistance program shall be credited from the payment made by an employer pursuant to section 422.16. If the amount of the withholding by the employer is less than one and one-half percent of the gross wages paid to the employees, then the employer shall receive a credit against other withholding taxes due by the employer. The employer shall deposit the amount of the credit quarterly into a housing assistance fund created by the business out of which the business shall provide employees enrolled in the housing assistance program with down payment assistance or rental assistance.

(2)  A business may enter into an agreement with the county or city designating the enterprise zone pursuant to section 15E.194 to borrow initial moneys to fund a housing assistance program. The county or city may appropriate from the general fund of the county or city for the assistance program an amount not to exceed an amount estimated by the department of revenue and finance to be equal to the total amount of credit from withholding for employees determined by the business to be enrolled in the program during the first two years. The business shall pay the principal and interest on the loan out of moneys received from the credit from withholding provided for in subparagraph (1). The terms of the loan agreement shall include the principal amount, the interest rate, the terms of repayment, and the term of the loan. The terms of the loan agreement shall not extend beyond the period during which the enterprise zone is certified.

(3)  The employer shall certify to the department of revenue and finance that the credit from withholding is in accordance with an agreement and shall provide other information the department may require.

(4)  An employee participating in the housing assistance program will receive full credit for the amount withheld as provided in section 422.16.

2.  Sales, services, and use tax refund, as provided in section 15.331A.

3.  Investment tax credit, as provided in section 15.333.

4.  Research activities credit, as provided in section 15.335.

5.  The county or city for which an eligible enterprise zone is certified may exempt from all property taxation all or a portion of the value added to the property upon which an eligible business locates or expands in an enterprise zone and which is used in the operation of the eligible business. The amount of value added for purposes of this subsection shall be the amount of the increase in assessed valuation of the property following the location or expansion of the business in the enterprise zone. If an exemption provided pursuant to this subsection is made applicable to only a portion of the property within an enterprise zone, the definition of that subset of eligible property must be by uniform criteria which further some planning objective established by the city or county enterprise zone commission and approved by the eligible city or county. The exemption may be allowed for a period not to exceed ten years beginning the year the eligible business enters into an agreement with the county or city to locate or expand operations in an enterprise zone.

6.  Insurance premium tax credit, as provided in section 15.333A.

Section History: Recent form

  97 Acts, ch 144, §6; 98 Acts, ch 1175, §13; 98 Acts, ch 1179, §3; 99 Acts, ch 172, §2

Internal References

  Referred to in § 15E.193, 15E.193A, 15E.193B, 15E.195


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