Iowa Code § 476B.6 - Tax credit certificate procedure

1. a. If a city or a county in which a qualified facility is located has enacted an ordinance under section 427B.26 and an owner has filed for and received special valuation pursuant to that ordinance, the owner is not required to obtain approval from the city council or county board of supervisors to apply for the wind energy production tax credit pursuant to subsection 2. b. (1) If neither a city nor a county in which a qualified facility is located has enacted an ordinance under section 427B.26, or a qualified facility is not eligible for special valuation pursuant to an ordinance adopted by a city or a county under section 427B.26, the owner must receive approval of the applicable city council or county board of supervisors of the city or county in which the qualified facility is located in order to be eligible to receive the wind energy production tax credit. The application for approval may be submitted prior to commencement of the construction of the qualified facility but shall be submitted no later than the close of the owner’s first taxable year for which the credit is to be applied for. The application must contain the owner’s name and address, the address of the qualified facility, and the dates of the owner’s first and last taxable years for which the credit will be applied for. Within forty-five days of the receipt of the application for approval, the city council or county board of supervisors, as applicable, shall either approve or disapprove the application. After the forty-five-day time period has expired, the application is deemed to be approved. (2) Upon approval of an application submitted pursuant to subparagraph (1), the owner may apply for the tax credit as provided in subsection 2. In addition, approval of the application submitted pursuant to subparagraph (1) is acceptance by the applicant for the assessment of the qualified facility for property tax purposes for a period of twelve years and approval by the city council or county board of supervisors, as applicable, for the payment of the property taxes levied on the qualified property to the state. For purposes of property taxation, the qualified facility receiving approval of an application submitted pursuant to subparagraph (1) shall be centrally assessed and shall be exempt from any replacement tax under section 437A.6 for the period during which the facility is subject to property taxation. The property taxes to be paid to the state are those property taxes which make up the consolidated tax levied on the qualified facility and which are due and payable in the twelve-year period beginning with the first fiscal year beginning on or after the end of the owner’s first taxable year for which the credit is applied for. Upon approval of the application, the city council or county board of supervisors, as applicable, shall notify the county treasurer to designate on the tax statement which lists the taxes on the qualified facility the amount of the property taxes to be paid to the department. Payment of the designated property taxes to the department shall be in the same manner as required for the payment of regular property taxes and failure to pay designated property taxes to the department shall be treated the same as failure to pay property taxes to the county treasurer. c. Once the owner of the qualified facility receives approval under paragraph “b”, subsequent approval under paragraph “b” is not required for the same qualified facility for subsequent taxable years. 2. An owner of a qualified facility may apply to the commission for the wind energy production tax credit by submitting to the commission all of the following: a. A completed application in a form prescribed by the commission. b. A copy of the determination granting approval of the facility as a qualified facility by the commission. c. A copy of a signed power purchase agreement or other agreement to purchase electricity. d. Sufficient documentation that the electricity has been generated by the qualified facility and sold to a purchaser. e. For a facility in which electricity is used for on-site consumption, the requirements of paragraphs “c” and “d” shall not be applicable. For such facilities, the owner must submit a certification under penalty of perjury that the claimed amount of electricity was generated by the qualified facility and consumed by the owner. f. Any other information the commission deems necessary. 3. The commission shall notify the department of the amount of kilowatt-hours generated and purchased from a qualified facility or generated and used on-site by a qualified facility. The department shall calculate the amount of the tax credit for which the applicant is eligible and shall issue the tax credit certificate for that amount or notify the applicant in writing of its refusal to do so. An applicant whose application is denied may file an appeal with the department within sixty days from the date of the denial pursuant to the provisions of chapter 17A. 4. Each tax credit certificate shall contain the owner’s name, address, and tax identification number, the amount of tax credits, the first taxable year the certificate may be used, the type of tax to which the tax credits shall be applied, and any other information required by the department. The tax credit certificate shall only list one type of tax to which the amount of the tax credit may be applied. Once issued by the department, the tax credit certificate shall not be terminated or rescinded. 5. A tax credit certificate may be filed pursuant to any of the following, to the extent applicable: a. If the tax credit application is filed by a partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, trust, or other reporting entity all of the income of which is taxed directly to its equity holders or beneficiaries, for the taxes imposed under chapter 422, subchapter II or III, the tax credit certificate shall be issued directly to equity holders or beneficiaries of the applicant in proportion to their pro rata share of the income of such entity. The applicant shall, in the application made under this section, identify its equity holders or beneficiaries, and the percentage of such entity’s income that is allocable to each equity holder or beneficiary. b. If the tax credit applicant under this section is eligible to receive renewable electricity production credits authorized under section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and the tax credit applicant is a partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, trust, or other reporting entity all of the income of which is taxed directly to its equity holders or beneficiaries, for the taxes imposed under chapter 422, subchapter II or III, the tax credit certificate may be issued to a partner if the business is a partnership, a shareholder if the business is an S corporation, or a member if the business is a limited liability company in the amounts designated by the eligible partnership, S corporation, or limited liability company. In absence of such designation, the credits under this section shall flow through to the partners, shareholders, or members in accordance with their pro rata share of the income of the entity. The applicant shall, in the application made under this section, identify the holders or beneficiaries that are to receive the tax credit certificates and the percentage of the tax credit that is allocable to each holder or beneficiary. c. If an applicant under this section is eligible to receive renewable electricity production credits authorized under section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and the tax credit applicant is a partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, trust, or other reporting entity all of the income of which is taxed directly to its equity holders or beneficiaries, for the taxes imposed under chapter 422, subchapter II or III, the tax credit certificates and all future rights to the tax credit in this section may be distributed to an equity holder or beneficiary as a liquidating distribution or portion thereof, of a holder or beneficiary’s interest in the applicant entity. The applicant shall, in the application made under this section, designate the percentage of the tax credit allocable to the liquidating equity holder or beneficiary that is to receive the current and future tax credit certificates under this section. d. If the tax credit application is filed by a partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, trust, or other reporting entity, all of the income of which is taxed directly to its equity holders or beneficiaries for the taxes imposed under chapter 422, subchapter V, or under chapter 423, 432, or 437A, the tax credit certificate shall be issued directly to the partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, estate, trust, or other reporting entity. 6. The department shall not issue a tax credit certificate if the facility approved by the commission as a qualified facility is not operational within eighteen months after the approval is issued. 7. Once a tax credit certificate is issued pursuant to this section, the tax credit may only be claimed against the type of tax reflected on the certificate. 8. A tax credit certificate shall not be used or included with a return filed for a taxable year beginning prior to July 1, 2006. 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §414, 418; 2005 Acts, ch 179, §167; 2006 Acts, ch 1135, §4, 12; 2008 Acts, ch 1128, §9 – 11, 15; 2009 Acts, ch 80, §4, 9; 2014 Acts, ch 1093, §16; 2016 Acts, ch 1011, §85; 2020 Acts, ch 1062, §94; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §369 Referred to in §476B.7