701—304.11(15,422) Research activities credit.  The taxes imposed on individual income shall be reduced by a state tax credit for increasing research activities in this state. For individual income tax, the requirements of the research activities credit are described in Iowa Code section 422.10. This rule explains terms not defined in the statute and procedures for claiming the credit.
	304.11(1) Definitions.
“Accountant” means a person authorized under Iowa Code chapter 542 to engage in the practice of public accounting in Iowa as defined in Iowa Code section 542.3(23) or authorized to engage in such practice in another state under a similar law of another state.
“Architect” means a person licensed under Iowa Code chapter 544A or a similar law of another state.
“Aviation and aerospace” means the design, development or production of aircraft, rockets, missiles, spacecraft and other machinery and equipment that operate in aerospace.
“Collection agency” means a person primarily engaged in the business of collecting debt, including but not limited to consumer debt collection subject to the provisions of the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act in 15 U.S.C. §1692 et seq., the Iowa debt collection practices Act in Iowa Code sections 537.7101 through 537.7103, or other similar state law.
“Finance or investment company” means a person primarily engaged in finance or investment activities broadly consisting of the holding, depositing, or management of a customer’s money or assets for investment purposes, or the provision of loans or other similar financing or credit to customers. “Finance or investment company” includes but is not limited to a person organized or licensed under Iowa Code chapter 524, 533, or 533D or other similar state or federal law, or an investment company as defined in 15 U.S.C. §80a-3.
“Life sciences” means the sciences concerned with the study of living organisms, including agriscience, biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, physiology, biochemistry, and related subjects.
“Manufacturing” means the same as defined in 2018 Iowa Acts, Senate File 2417, section 183.
“Publisher” means a person whose primary business is the publishing of books, periodicals, newspapers, music, or other works for sale in any format.
“Real estate company” means a person licensed under Iowa Code chapter 543B or otherwise primarily engaged in acts constituting dealing in real estate as described in Iowa Code section 543B.6.
“Retailer” means a person that primarily engages in sales of personal property as defined in 2018 Iowa Acts, Senate File 2417, section 158, or services directly to an ultimate consumer. A business that primarily makes sales for resale is not a retailer.
“Software engineering” means the detailed study of the design, development, operation, and maintenance of software.
“Transportation company” means a person whose primary business is the transportation of persons or property from one place to another.
“Wholesaler” means a person that primarily engages in buying large quantities of goods and reselling them in smaller quantities to retailers or other merchants who in turn sell those goods to the ultimate consumer.
	304.11(2) Requirement that the business claim and be allowed the federal credit. To claim this credit, a taxpayer’s business must claim and be allowed a research credit for such qualified research expenses under Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code for the same taxable year as the taxpayer’s business is claiming the credit.
	a. 	Being “allowed” the federal credit. For purposes of this subrule, a federal credit is “allowed” if the taxpayer meets all requirements to claim the credit under Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code and any applicable federal regulation and Internal Revenue Service guidance and such credit has not been disallowed by the Internal Revenue Service.
	b. 	Applicability of requirement to pass-throughs. If the individual received the Iowa credit through a pass-through entity, the pass-through entity that conducted the research must have claimed and been allowed the federal credit in order for the individual to claim the Iowa credit.
	c. 	Impact of federal audit. If the Internal Revenue Service audits or otherwise reviews the return and disallows the credit, the taxpayer shall file an amended Iowa return along with supporting schedules, including an amended federal return or a copy of the federal revenue agent’s report and notification of final federal adjustments, to add back the Iowa credit to the extent not previously disallowed by the department.
	d. 	Authority of the department. Nothing in this subrule shall limit the department’s authority to review, examine, audit, or otherwise challenge an Iowa tax credit claim under Iowa Code section 422.10, regardless of inaction, a settlement, or a determination by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code.
	304.11(3) Calculating the credit. For information on how the credit is calculated, see Iowa Code section 422.10.
	304.11(4) Claiming the tax credit.
	a. 	Forms. The credit must be claimed on the forms provided on the department’s website and must include all information required by the forms.
	b. 	Allocation to the individual owners of an entity or beneficiaries of an estate or trust. An individual may claim a research activities credit incurred by a partnership, S corporation, limited liability company, estate, or trust electing to have the income of the business entity taxed to the individual. The amount claimed by an individual from the business entity shall be based upon the pro rata share of the individual’s earnings from a partnership, S corporation, estate or trust.
	c. 	Refundability. Any research credit in excess of the individual’s tax liability, less the nonrefundable credits authorized in Iowa Code chapter 422, division II, may be refunded to the individual or may be credited to the individual’s tax liability for the following tax year.
	d. 	Transferability. Tax credit certificates shall not be transferred to any other person.
	e. 	Enterprise zone claimants. The enterprise zone program was repealed on July 1, 2014. However, any supplemental research activities credit earned by businesses pursuant to Iowa Code section 15.335 and approved under the enterprise zone program prior to July 1, 2014, remains valid and can be claimed on tax returns filed after July 1, 2014.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 15.335 and 422.10 as amended by 2018 Iowa Acts, Senate File 2417.
[ARC 8702B, IAB 4/21/10, effective 5/26/10; ARC 9104B, IAB 9/22/10, effective 10/27/10; ARC 9820B, IAB 11/2/11, effective 12/7/11; ARC 0337C, IAB 9/19/12, effective 10/24/12; ARC 1101C, IAB 10/16/13, effective 11/20/13; ARC 1545C, IAB 7/23/14, effective 8/27/14; ARC 1744C, IAB 11/26/14, effective 12/31/14; ARC 4143C, IAB 11/21/18, effective 12/26/18; Editorial change: IAC Supplement 11/2/22]