House File 2293 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  FOEGE


    Passed House, Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act providing a small business qualified wellness program tax
  2    credit and providing a retroactive applicability date.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 5870HH 82
  5 pf/nh/14

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  135.27A  SMALL BUSINESS QUALIFIED
  1  2 WELLNESS PROGRAM CERTIFICATION.
  1  3    1.  The department shall adopt rules for the small business
  1  4 qualified wellness programs that are eligible for a tax credit
  1  5 pursuant to section 422.11V, section 422.33, subsection 25,
  1  6 and section 422.60, subsection 15.  The rules shall provide
  1  7 for all of the following:
  1  8    a.  The minimum standards for use by a small business in
  1  9 establishing a qualified wellness program to improve the
  1 10 health of employees of the small business.
  1 11    (1)  The minimum standards shall include a requirement that
  1 12 a qualified wellness program provide measurable positive
  1 13 health outcomes for employees.
  1 14    (2)  The minimum standards shall also include but are not
  1 15 limited to all of the following:
  1 16    (a)  Provision of a smoking cessation program that covers
  1 17 all United States food and drug administration=approved
  1 18 cessation treatments and cessation counseling through direct
  1 19 payment, reimbursement, or purchase of suitable insurance
  1 20 riders.
  1 21    (b)  Provision of a program for employees to obtain a
  1 22 regular health risk assessment and to adhere to a treatment
  1 23 program designed to address health risk factors including but
  1 24 not limited to cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, or
  1 25 blood pressure levels that are outside of the ranges
  1 26 recommended by the centers for disease control and prevention
  1 27 of the United States department of health and human services.
  1 28    (3)  The minimum standards may include any of the
  1 29 following:
  1 30    (a)  Provision of programs that target the prevention of
  1 31 onset of disease including but not limited to immunizations
  1 32 and promotion of physical activity.
  1 33    (b)  Provision of programs that target identification of
  1 34 disease and the treatment of disease following the onset of
  1 35 disease including but not limited to mammography, colonoscopy,
  2  1 medication adherence programs, and disease management
  2  2 programs.
  2  3    b.  Criteria and a process for certification of a small
  2  4 business qualified wellness program including:
  2  5    (1)  An application process for small businesses to submit
  2  6 a description of the small business's wellness program to the
  2  7 department for certification.
  2  8    (2)  A review process and the criteria to be used in
  2  9 evaluating a small business's wellness program to determine
  2 10 whether to certify the program as a qualified wellness
  2 11 program.
  2 12    (3)  The certification document, verifying a wellness
  2 13 program as a qualified wellness program.
  2 14    2.  If the department determines that a small business
  2 15 wellness program is a qualified wellness program, the
  2 16 department shall send the certification document to the small
  2 17 business as verification.
  2 18    3.  The department may charge a reasonable fee for the
  2 19 application and certification processes.
  2 20    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  422.11V  SMALL BUSINESS QUALIFIED
  2 21 WELLNESS PROGRAM TAX CREDIT.
  2 22    1.  a.  The taxes imposed under this division, less the
  2 23 amounts of nonrefundable credits allowed under this division,
  2 24 shall be reduced by a small business qualified wellness
  2 25 program tax credit for the cost to a small business of
  2 26 providing a qualified wellness program.  The amount of the
  2 27 credit for each employer equals fifty percent of the program
  2 28 costs, not to exceed an amount equal to three hundred dollars
  2 29 per year per employee.
  2 30    b.  For purposes of this section:
  2 31    (1)  "Qualified wellness program" means a wellness program
  2 32 certified by the department of public health pursuant to
  2 33 section 135.27A.
  2 34    (2)  "Small business" means a for=profit enterprise that
  2 35 employed for at least fifty percent of the working days of the
  3  1 employer, at least two but not more than one hundred employees
  3  2 during the tax year.
  3  3    c.  If the credit provided under this section exceeds the
  3  4 taxpayer's state tax liability, the excess may be carried
  3  5 forward to succeeding taxable years and used as a credit
  3  6 against the taxpayer's state tax liability during those
  3  7 taxable years.
  3  8    2.  An individual may claim a small business qualified
  3  9 wellness program tax credit allowed a partnership, limited
  3 10 liability company, S corporation, estate, or trust electing to
  3 11 have the income taxed directly to the individual.  The amount
  3 12 claimed by the individual shall be based upon the pro rata
  3 13 share of the individual's earnings of the partnership, limited
  3 14 liability company, S corporation, estate, or trust.
  3 15    3.  A taxpayer claiming a credit under this section shall
  3 16 not be precluded, in computing taxable income, from deducting
  3 17 the amount of costs for providing a wellness program allowed
  3 18 under any section of the Internal Revenue Code.
  3 19    4.  To receive the small business qualified wellness
  3 20 program tax credit, a small business must submit an
  3 21 application to the department accompanied by a certificate
  3 22 received from the department of public health verifying the
  3 23 small business's wellness program as a qualified wellness
  3 24 program.  If the taxpayer meets the criteria for eligibility,
  3 25 the department shall issue to the taxpayer a certification of
  3 26 entitlement for the small business qualified wellness program
  3 27 tax credit.  The certification must contain the taxpayer's
  3 28 name, address, tax identification number, the amount of the
  3 29 credit, and tax year for which the certificate applies.  The
  3 30 taxpayer shall file the tax credit certificate with the
  3 31 taxpayer's tax return in order to claim the tax credit.  The
  3 32 department, in cooperation with the department of public
  3 33 health, shall adopt rules to administer this section.
  3 34    Sec. 3.  Section 422.33, Code Supplement 2007, is amended
  3 35 by adding the following new subsection:
  4  1    NEW SUBSECTION.  25.  The taxes imposed under this division
  4  2 shall be reduced by a small business qualified wellness
  4  3 program tax credit, provided for in section 422.11V.  The tax
  4  4 credit shall be subject to the same conditions, requirements,
  4  5 and dollar limitations as provided for in section 422.11V.
  4  6    Sec. 4.  Section 422.60, Code Supplement 2007, is amended
  4  7 by adding the following new subsection:
  4  8    NEW SUBSECTION.  15.  The taxes imposed under this division
  4  9 shall be reduced by a small business qualified wellness
  4 10 program tax credit, provided for in section 422.11V.  The tax
  4 11 credit shall be subject to the same conditions, requirements,
  4 12 and dollar limitations as provided for in section 422.11V.
  4 13    Sec. 5.  RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY DATE.  This Act applies
  4 14 retroactively to January 1, 2008, for tax years beginning on
  4 15 or after that date.
  4 16                           EXPLANATION
  4 17    This bill provides a small business qualified wellness
  4 18 program tax credit under the individual and corporate income
  4 19 taxes and the franchise tax.
  4 20    A small business is a for=profit enterprise that employed
  4 21 for at least 50 percent of the working days of the employer,
  4 22 at least two but not more than 100 employees during the tax
  4 23 year.  The amount of the credit equals 50 percent of the costs
  4 24 of the qualified wellness program, not to exceed an amount
  4 25 equal to $300 per employee.  Any excess credit may be carried
  4 26 forward to succeeding tax years.
  4 27    The bill directs the department of public health to adopt
  4 28 rules specifying the requirements for a qualified wellness
  4 29 program and to provide for certification of small business
  4 30 qualified wellness programs.
  4 31    The bill applies retroactively to January 1, 2008, for tax
  4 32 years beginning on or after that date.
  4 33 LSB 5870HH 82
  4 34 pf/nh/14