Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 701 - Revenue Department › Title IV - Individual Income Tax › Chapter 301 - Filing Return and Payment of Tax › Rule 701-301.2 - Time and Place for Filing

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1)
Returns of individuals.
A return of income must be filed on or
				before the due date. The due date is the last day of the fourth month following
				the close of the taxpayer's taxable year, whether the return be made on the
				basis of the calendar year or for a fiscal year, or the last day of the period
				covered by an extension of time granted by the department. When the due date
				falls on Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday, the return will be due the following
				day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. Iowa Code section
				421.9A contains additional
				information on due dates that fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. If a
				return is placed in the mail, properly addressed and postage paid, in ample
				time to reach the department on or before the due date for filing, no penalty
				will attach should the return not be received until after that date. Mailed
				returns should be addressed to Income Tax Return Processing, Department of
				Revenue, Hoover State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319.
Farmers and fishermen have the same filing due date as other
				  individual taxpayers; however, those farmers and fishermen who have elected not
				  to file a declaration of estimated tax shall file their returns and pay the tax
				  due, on or before March 1, to avoid penalty for underpayment of estimated
				  tax.
(2) and (3)
				Reserved.
(4)
Extension of
				time for returns for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1991.
The taxpayer is required to file the taxpayer's individual income tax return on
				or before the due date of the return with payment in full of the amount
				required to be shown due with the return. However, in any instance where the
				taxpayer is unable to file the return by the due date because of illness or
				death in the taxpayer's immediate family, unavoidable absence of the taxpayer,
				or other legitimate reason, the director may grant a six-month extension of
				time to file the return.
If the taxpayer has paid at least 90 percent of the tax
				  required to be shown due by the due date and has not filed a return by the due
				  date, the director will consider that the taxpayer has requested an extension
				  of time to file the return and will automatically grant an extension of up to
				  six months to file the return. The taxpayer does not have to file an
				  application for extension form with the department to get the automatic
				  extension to file the return within the six-month period after the due date and
				  not be subject to penalty. However, if the taxpayer wants to make a tax payment
				  to ensure that at least 90 percent of the tax has been paid on or before the
				  due date, the payment should be made with the Iowa tax voucher form. This form
				  can be requested from the Taxpayer Services Section, P.O. Box 10457, Des
				  Moines, Iowa 50306, or by telephone at (515)281-3114.
To determine whether or not at least 90 percent of the tax
				  was "paid" on or before the due date, the aggregate amount of tax credits
				  applicable on the return plus the tax payments made on or before the due date
				  are divided by the tax required to be shown due on the return. The tax required
				  to be shown on the return is the sum of the income tax, lump-sum tax, minimum
				  tax, school district income surtax, and the emergency medical services income
				  surtax. The tax credits applicable are the credits set out in Iowa Code chapter
				  422, division II, and section
				  422.111. The tax payments to be
				  considered for purposes of determining if 90 percent of the tax was paid are
				  the withholding tax payments, estimate payments, and the payments made with the
				  Iowa income tax voucher form to ensure that 90 percent of the tax was paid
				  timely.
If the aggregate of the tax credits and the tax payments are
				  equal to or greater than 90 percent of the tax required to be shown due, the
				  taxpayer will have met the "90 percent" test and no penalty will be assessed.
				  However, the taxpayer will still be subject to statutory interest on any tax
				  due when the return is filed.
Any tax elections, such as the election to carry forward a
				  net operating loss occurring in the tax year, will be considered to be valid in
				  instances when the return is filed within the six-month extended period after
				  the due date. The fact that the taxpayer has paid less than 90 percent of the
				  tax required to be shown due will not invalidate any tax elections made on the
				  return, if the return is filed within the six-month extended period.
a. Extensions for taxpayers with tax homes
				outside the United States and Puerto Rico. Taxpayers with tax homes outside the
				United States and Puerto Rico may, in some situations, be granted additional
				time to file their federal income tax returns beyond the six-month period after
				the federal due date. In some cases, this additional time is needed to meet
				residency time requirements in a foreign country so the taxpayer will be
				eligible for the foreign income exclusion which is also applicable to filing
				Iowa income tax returns. In cases where the taxpayer's tax home is outside the
				United States and the taxpayer has been granted additional time to file the
				federal income tax return which is greater than six months from the due date,
				the taxpayer will be deemed to have the same additional time to file the Iowa
				return and not be subject to penalty for late filing if 90 percent of the tax
				required to be shown due on the return was paid by the due date. Taxpayers with
				tax elections filing returns under these circumstances will be considered to
				have made these elections timely. However, the taxpayers should attach to their
				Iowa return documentation showing they were granted additional time after the
				six-month period from the due date to file their federal returns.
b. Payment of interest on refunds from income
				tax returns filed in the six-month period after the due date. The following
				information applies only to Iowa individual income tax returns that are filed
				for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1999. In the case of Iowa
				returns that have overpayments of income tax that are filed in the six-month
				period after the due date and where at least 90 percent of the tax shown due
				was paid by the due date, interest at the statutory rate will be paid on the
				overpayments determined on the returns, starting on the first day of the second
				month after the end of the six-month extended period and ending in the month in
				which the refund is issued.
For taxpayers filing Iowa individual income tax returns for
				  calendar-year tax years, the six-month extended period starts May 1 of the year
				  following the end of the tax year and ends on October 31 of the year following
				  the end of the tax year. However, if April 30 falls on a Sunday as it does in
				  the year 2000 for 1999 Iowa individual returns filed in that year, the due date
				  is moved to Monday, May 1. The extended period in this instance starts on
				  Tuesday, May 2, 2000, and ends on October 31, 2000.
EXAMPLE. A husband and wife file their 1999 Iowa return on
				  September 15, 2000. This return has an overpayment of tax of $200. Because the
				  return is filed in the six-month period after the May 1, 2000, due date, and
				  because the refund is issued in January 2001, interest accrues on the
				  overpayment for the months of December 2000 and January 2001.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections
				  422.21 and
				  422.25.