We have written detailed reviews of Iowa law impacting agricultural producers and landowners. Access these reviews by clicking on the tiles below. You can also review Iowa cases on a particular subject by searching our list of Iowa case law reviews at the bottom of this page.
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Drainage law is important to many Iowa farmers, and the issues frequently involve not only principles of Iowa water law, but also statutes and regulations involving drainage districts and County officials. That was certainly the situation in this case.
Iowa law (Iowa Code §422.7 (21)) provides that certain capital gains can be excluded from taxable income. For the sale of business property to be eligible, the taxpayer must have either been employed in the business or materially participated in the business for ten years and held the property for ten years. Also, the statute defines sale of a business as the sale of “all or substantially all of the tangible personal property or service of the business.” The statute has been modified in recent years, but the provision defining “sale of a business” has not changed.
Iowa law permits a landowner to construct open or covered drains to drain surface water in the general course of natural drainage upon the landowner’s property. However, such drainage activities cannot increase the quantity of water or change the manner of the discharge of the water onto someone else’s property. Also, Iowa law allows landowners that pay drainage district assessments to connect to lateral drains maintained by the drainage district so long as the directions of the district are followed with respect to making and maintaining the connection.
Iowa law (Iowa Code §§422.45(26) and (39)) exempts from sales tax the gross receipts from the sale or rental of farm machinery and equipment if the items are used directly and primarily in livestock or dairy production. That raises a question as to whether certain items associated with a confinement hog facility are eligible for the exemption. That was the question raised in this case.
To constitute a gift, the donor (person making the gift) must intend to make a gift, deliver the gifted property to the donee (recipient of the gifted property), and the donee must accept the gift. Also, when circumstances are uncertain, the donor’s intent controls. Here, the plaintiff received an inheritance and used some of it to purchase a tract of real estate, but placed title to the property in his girlfriend’s name because he was unsure whether a settlement of an outstanding child support obligation barred his former wife from getting a lien for the pre-settlement balance.
Most people are dependent on borrowed money or financing for continuing in business or for major purchases, such as a home. That is true for farmers and non-farmers alike. Typically, a lender requires the borrower to sign a written agreement giving the lender legal rights to the collateral (such as the borrower’s crops, livestock or equipment) if the borrower fails to repay the loan. The type of a lending arrangement is known as a “secured transaction” and is subject to a specific set of rules that govern the rights and obligations of the parties to the transaction.
In most states, the common law bars one person from maliciously interfering with another person’s business. That’s the rule in Iowa. A person cannot act with the sole purpose to injure or financially destroy another person’s business relations. Since 1991, several states have gone further and enacted legislation designed to protect perishable food products from false and malicious statements. This case did not involve food disparagement, but it did involve a farmer’s claim that a bank intentionally interfered with his business relations.
This publication is designed to acquaint you with the considerations, problems, and tools available in estate planning. It has been updated to include 2005 revisions to the tax law.