Iowa Has Extended Filing Deadline for Farmers, But No Coupling Yet

February 28, 2016 | Kristine A. Tidgren

It is looking much more promising that the Iowa Legislature will eventually decide to retroactively integrate federal tax extenders from the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act) into Iowa law for the 2015 tax year. Farmers have been offered an extension while we wait to see if a coupling bill emerges from the Legislature. If it does, it looks like Governor Branstad will sign it. Late on February 27, the Iowa Department of Revenue announced that, at the direction of Governor Branstad, it was delaying the deadline for farmers to file and pay their individual 2015 tax returns. The Department has announced that the deadline to pay these taxes, without being subject to an underpayment of estimated taxes payment, is now April 30, as opposed to March 1. Since April 30 is a Saturday, the Iowa Department of Revenue has confirmed that this means an actual deadline of May 2. The Department has also confirmed that this extension only applies to farmers' 1040 returns. It does not apply to entity returns.

PATH Act Provisions

As most readers are aware, Congress permanently extended several key tax breaks at the end of 2015. In the PATH Act (see our summary article of this law here), Congress permanently extended a $500,000 enhanced IRC § 179 deduction and provided for 50% bonus depreciation that would be phased out over a five-year period. Also included in this extenders package was a permanent extension of a number of other important tax breaks, including a reduced five-year period during which S Corporations must recognize built-in gain, a $250 deduction for teachers who purchase supplies for their K-12 classrooms, and the option to allow taxpayers to claim state and local sales tax instead of state and local income tax as an itemized deduction.

No Iowa Coupling

While these changes are in the books for the 2015 tax year with respect to federal tax returns, Iowa has not enacted legislation to apply these changes to Iowa tax returns. Consequently, none of the 2015 federal tax extenders apply to Iowa tax returns. For the 2014 tax year, Iowa was coupled with federal tax law with respect to the enhanced IRC § 179 deduction and most other federal provisions. Iowa did not, however, adopt the 2014 federal bonus depreciation provisions. This was true in prior years as well. While 2015 coupling appeared dead just a week ago, it now appears there is a solid chance for a change in Iowa law. The Iowa Governor has now voiced support for a one-year coupling bill.

No Section 179 Enhanced Deduction

Currently, Iowa has a $25,000 §179 deduction with only a $200,000 annual dollar threshold. This means not only that the deduction is limited to $25,000, but also that the deduction begins a dollar-for-dollar phaseout for purchases exceeding the $200,000 limit. In other words, a farmer with a 2015 purchase of $225,000 in equipment is currently entitled to no Iowa §179 deduction. If Iowa were to couple with federal law, the farmer would be entitled to deduct the entire amount of the purchase from his income. This is because the federal law allows a $500,000 deduction with a $2,000,000 annual dollar threshold. The noncoupling of this federal provisions alone will result in thousands of dollars of additional tax liability for farmers or small businesses that made large purchases in 2015. Practitioners must also double check that their software is calculating the Iowa tax correctly. Although most problems have been resolved, early versions of popular software were not correctly calculating the Iowa deduction.

Proposed Legislation

On February 4, a proposed coupling bill, Senate Study Bill 3107, was introduced in the Iowa Senate. This bill, which is the Iowa Department of Revenue's proposed bill, is dramatically different from HF2092, which passed the Iowa House on January 28.

HF2092  would couple with most federal PATH Act provisions for 2015, including the enhanced $500,000 IRC § 179 deduction. The House bill would explicitly decouple with respect to bonus depreciation (as has been the case in prior years). It would also allow the deduction for state sales and use tax but only if "the taxpayer elected to deduct the state sales and use taxes in lieu of state income taxes under section 164 of the Internal Revenue Code. The deduction for state sales and use taxes [would not be] allowed if the taxpayer has taken the deduction for state income taxes or claimed the standard deduction under section 63 of the Internal Revenue Code."

For 2015, SSB 3107, on the other hand, would couple with federal PATH Act changes only with respect to the research activities credit and the alternative simplified research activities credit. Aside from that, under SSB 3107, Iowa would not adopt any Path Act provisions, including the enhanced $500,000 IRC § 179 deduction. This means that Iowa would recognize only a $25,000 IRC § 179 deduction.

For 2016, the senate study bill would make most 2015 federal PATH Act provisions applicable to Iowa, but it specifically decouples with certain federal bonus depreciation AND IRC § 179 provisions. Specifically, the senate study bill would limit the Iowa § 179 deduction to $25,000 and eliminate bonus depreciation entirely. While Iowans are now accustomed to Iowa not recognizing federal bonus depreciation provisions, the decoupling of the enhanced IRC § 179 deduction would be new.

On February 9, 2016, another Senate Bill, SF 2137, was introduced. This bill mirrors HF2092 and would couple with federal provisions (except bonus depreciation) beginning with the 2015 tax year. Despite the bill's introduction, it appears that action on any such bill is currently stalled.

For 2015, Governor Branstad initially proposed no coupling with federal provisions. His proposals do include state coupling with some federal provisions beginning with tax year 2016. The Governor's position on coupling appears to have changed to support a one-year coupling bill.

We will continue to keep you posted as these developments unfold.