422.12C  Child and dependent care or early childhood development tax credits.
  1.  The taxes imposed under this subchapter, less the amounts of nonrefundable credits allowed under this subchapter, shall be reduced by a child and dependent care credit equal to the following percentages of the federal child and dependent care credit provided in section 21 of the Internal Revenue Code, without regard to whether or not the federal credit was limited by the taxpayer’s federal tax liability:
  a.  For a taxpayer with net income of less than ten thousand dollars, seventy-five percent.
  b.  For a taxpayer with net income of ten thousand dollars or more but less than twenty thousand dollars, sixty-five percent.
  c.  For a taxpayer with net income of twenty thousand dollars or more but less than twenty-five thousand dollars, fifty-five percent.
  d.  For a taxpayer with net income of twenty-five thousand dollars or more but less than thirty-five thousand dollars, fifty percent.
  e.  For a taxpayer with net income of thirty-five thousand dollars or more but less than forty thousand dollars, forty percent.
  f.  For a taxpayer with net income of forty thousand dollars or more but less than ninety thousand dollars, thirty percent.
  g.  For a taxpayer with net income of ninety thousand dollars or more, zero percent.
  2.  a.  The taxes imposed under this subchapter, less the amounts of nonrefundable credits allowed under this subchapter, may be reduced by an early childhood development tax credit equal to twenty-five percent of the first one thousand dollars which the taxpayer has paid to others for each dependent, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, ages three through five for early childhood development expenses. In determining the amount of early childhood development expenses for the tax year beginning in the 2006 calendar year only, such expenses paid during November and December of the previous tax year shall be considered paid in the tax year for which the tax credit is claimed. This credit is available to a taxpayer whose net income is less than ninety thousand dollars. If the early childhood development tax credit is claimed for a tax year, the taxpayer and the taxpayer’s spouse shall not claim the child and dependent care credit under subsection 1.
  b.  As used in this subsection:
  (1)  “Early childhood development expenses” means services provided to the dependent by a preschool, as defined in section 237A.1, materials, and other activities as follows:
  (a)  Books that improve child development, including textbooks, music books, art books, teacher’s editions, and reading books.
  (b)  Instructional materials required to be used in a child development or educational lesson activity, including but not limited to paper, notebooks, pencils, and art supplies.
  (c)  Lesson plans and curricula.
  (d)  Child development and educational activities outside the home, including drama, art, music, and museum activities, and the entrance fees for such activities, but not including food or lodging, membership fees, or other nonacademic expenses.
  (2)  “Early childhood development expenses” does not include services, materials, or activities for the teaching of religious tenets, doctrines, or worship, the purpose of which is to inculcate those tenets, doctrines, or worship.
  3.  Any credit in excess of the tax liability shall be refunded. In lieu of claiming a refund, a taxpayer may elect to have the overpayment shown on the taxpayer’s final, completed return credited to the tax liability for the following taxable year.
  4.  Nonresidents or part-year residents of Iowa must determine their Iowa child and dependent care credit under subsection 1 or the early childhood development tax credit under subsection 2 in the ratio of their Iowa source net income to their all source net income. 
90 Acts, ch 1248, §10; 91 Acts, ch 159, §15; 93 Acts, ch 172, §44, 56; 97 Acts, ch 23, §44; 2005 Acts, ch 148, §23 – 27; 2006 Acts, ch 1158, §23 – 25, 69; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §86; 2014 Acts, ch 1120, §1 – 3; 2018 Acts, ch 1161, §124, 133, 134; 2019 Acts, ch 152, §9, 14, 15; 2020 Acts, ch 1062, §94; 2021 Acts, ch 177, §1 – 4; 2023 Acts, ch 66, §98, 159, 162; 2023 Acts, ch 115, §11, 12
Referred to in §2.48, 422.16
2019 amendment to subsection 4 applies retroactively to January 1, 2019, for tax years beginning on or after that date; 2019 Acts, ch 152, §15
For refunds of the early childhood development tax credit requested on or after May 16, 2019, see 
2019 Acts, ch 152, §12, 14
2021 amendments to subsections 1 and 2 apply retroactively to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021; 2021 Acts, ch 177, §4
2018 amendment to subsection 4 is effective January 1, 2023, and applies to tax years beginning on or after that date; 
2018 Acts, ch 1161, §133, 134
; 
2021 Acts, ch 177, §1
2023 amendment to subsection 4 by 2023 Acts, ch 66, applies retroactively to January 1, 2023; 2023 Acts, ch 66, §162
2023 amendment to subsection 4 by 2023 Acts, ch 115, applies retroactively to January 1, 2023, for tax years beginning on or after that date; 2023 Acts, ch 115, §12
See Code editor’s note on simple harmonization at the beginning of this Code volume
Subsection 4 amended