871—23.70(96) Nonprofit organizations.
	23.70(1) Any nonprofit organization can be considered eligible to reimburse the Iowa unemployment compensation fund in lieu of paying contributions. Any nonprofit organization wishing to be considered as a reimbursable employer shall file as provided under Iowa Code section 96.7 the election to reimburse the fund with the department for its consideration.
	23.70(2) The election to reimburse must be signed by an authorized official of the nonprofit organization and shall be accompanied by:
	a. 	A letter of intent indicating the organization’s desire to be considered for reimbursable status.
	b. 	A copy of the organization’s letter of 501(c)(3) exemption from the Internal Revenue Service. If the organization does not have a 501(c)(3) letter at the time of the filing of its election to become a reimbursable employer, it may file a written request with the department for an extension of time setting forth the reason for the request, and the department may grant such extension not to exceed 180 days. Included with this request for extension of time should be a copy of the application for exemption, Election to Make Payments in Lieu of Contributions, or evidence that the request for 501(c)(3) exemption has been made.
	c. 	A corporate charter or other documents that brought the organization into being.
	23.70(3) All requests by nonprofit organizations wishing to be considered for reimbursable status shall be filed on Form 68-0463 and that form, along with the organization’s 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue Service letter of exemption, except as otherwise provided in subrule 23.70(2), shall be directed to the attention of the tax bureau. The request for reimbursable status will be examined by an authorized representative.
	23.70(4) and 23.70(5) Reserved.
	23.70(6) An organization not possessing a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax exemption at the time its election is submitted shall be granted reimbursable status provided that the exemption is obtained and a copy is filed with the department within 180 days of the date the election is submitted. Should the organization fail to obtain an exemption within 180 days, the election shall be invalid and the organization shall be required to pay contributions upon all taxable wages paid during the period covered by the invalid election at the contribution rate it would have had if the invalid election had not been made. A new election may not be made by the organization until it has obtained a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax exemption and has filed a new election. The new election shall not be retroactive to cover the period of the invalid election. Benefits reimbursed during the invalid election shall be used to offset the contributions due, and any excess shall be refunded to the organization.
	23.70(7) to 23.70(9) Reserved.
	23.70(10) The department may for good cause extend the period within which a notice of election to become a reimbursable employer or a notice to terminate reimbursable status must be filed and permit an election to be retroactive.
	23.70(11) Any nonprofit organization that terminates its election to reimburse the fund shall continue to be liable to reimburse the fund for benefits which are paid based on wages earned during the effective period of the employer’s Election to Make Payments in Lieu of Contributions. All benefits charges based on wages paid after the date of the approval of the change of status to a contributory employer shall be charged to the employer’s contributory account.
	a. 	A nonprofit organization changing its tax status from reimbursable to contributory or contributory to reimbursable will be given a new employer account number. A nonprofit organization terminating its election to reimburse the fund shall be treated as a newly covered employer for the purpose of establishing a contribution rate, except as provided in paragraph “b.”
	b. 	The experience, while under each tax status, will not be combined for rate computation purposes unless the department finds, or has reason to believe, that the nonprofit organization changing from a reimbursable status to a contributory status is unable to reimburse the fund for benefits outstanding at the time of the change in status, plus any benefits paid after the change in status that are based on wages paid while the nonprofit organization was still in a reimbursable status. The department may then, at its own option, use the unreimbursed benefits in the computation of the nonprofit organization’s contribution rate and transfer any contributions collected, above what the nonprofit organization would have paid as a newly covered employer, from the nonprofit organization’s contributory account to the reimbursable account to apply against the unreimbursed benefits.
	23.70(12) Any nonprofit organization which elects to change its status from contributory to reimbursable shall continue to be liable for charges on all benefits based on wages paid when the nonprofit organization was a contributory employer. These charges will be charged to the nonprofit organization’s contributory account. The experience of the contributory account will not be merged with the nonprofit organization’s reimbursable account.
	23.70(13) In the event that a reimbursable nonprofit organization succeeds to a contributory employer, such successor employer shall not receive a transfer of account balance from the predecessor account. The account balance shall remain with the predecessor account and be used as an offset against any claims attributable to that account. If an employer, whether or not the employer may elect to be reimbursable, becomes a successor to a reimbursable nonprofit organization, the successor employer shall become obligated for the reimbursable nonprofit organization’s unpaid benefit charges in the event that the reimbursable nonprofit organization cannot meet this obligation. The successor employer shall also be liable to reimburse the department, whether or not the successor employer is reimbursable or is eligible to elect to become reimbursable, for benefits paid after the date of the sale or transfer that are based on wages paid by the reimbursable nonprofit organization prior to the date of the sale or transfer.
	23.70(14) In the event a reimbursable nonprofit organization discontinues business, the reimbursable nonprofit organization will continue to be liable to reimburse the fund in an amount equivalent to the amount of regular unemployment benefits and one-half of the extended benefits paid to an individual that is attributable to wages paid by the reimbursable nonprofit organization prior to the discontinuance of business.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 96.7(9).
[ARC 8711B, IAB 5/5/10, effective 6/9/10; ARC 3303C, IAB 8/30/17, effective 10/4/17; ARC 3401C, IAB 10/11/17, effective 11/15/17; ARC 3562C, IAB 1/3/18, effective 2/7/18]