Effective July 1, 1992, a county board of supervisors may
offer for voter approval a local option income surtax, an ad valorem property
tax, or a combination of the two taxes to generate revenues for emergency
medical services. However, this rule pertains only to the local option income
surtax for emergency medical services. If a majority of those voting in the
election approve the emergency medical services income surtax, the income
surtax will be imposed for tax years beginning on or after January 1 of the
fiscal year in which the election is held. Thus, if an election is held in the
2007-2008 fiscal year (July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008) and the income
surtax is approved in the election, the income surtax will be imposed on 2008
returns for individuals filing on a calendar-year basis. In the case of
individuals filing on a fiscal-year basis, the income surtax will be imposed on
returns for tax years beginning in the 2008 fiscal year. If an emergency
medical services income surtax is imposed for a county, it can be imposed only
for a maximum period of five years. When the emergency medical income surtax is
repealed because the five-year imposition has expired, the income surtax is
repealed as of December 31 for tax years beginning on or after that
date.
(1)
The rate of the
income surtax imposed for emergency medical services. After the income
surtax is approved by an election of county voters, the board of supervisors
will set the rate of tax to be imposed, which can be expressed in tenths of 1
percent or hundredths of 1 percent but cannot exceed 1 percent. In addition,
because the cumulative total of the percents of income surtax imposed on any
taxpayer in the county cannot exceed 20 percent, the rate of an emergency
medical services income surtax may be limited, if a school district income
surtax has been approved previously by a school district in the county and the
surtax rate exceeds 19 percent. Therefore, assuming that a school district in
the county had previously approved an income surtax rate of 19.4 percent, the
medical emergency income surtax rate would be limited to six-tenths of 1
percent. If a school district income surtax and emergency medical income surtax
are approved on or about the same date and the cumulative total of the income
surtaxes is greater than 20 percent, the income surtax approved on the earlier
of the two dates will be allowed at the rate approved and the second income
surtax approved will be limited accordingly so that the cumulative rate will
not exceed 20 percent. If a school district income surtax and an emergency
medical income surtax are approved on the same date with a proposed cumulative
rate that exceeds 20 percent, each of the surtaxes will be reduced equally so
that the cumulative surtax rate will not exceed 20 percent. Assuming that a
school district in a particular county approves an income surtax of 20 percent
on November 4, 2008, and an emergency medical income surtax of 1 percent is
approved on the same date, both surtaxes will be reduced by five-tenths of 1
percent so that the cumulative rate of the two income surtaxes does not exceed
20 percent. The department of management can provide information about any
income surtaxes that have been approved for the school districts in the
county.
(2)
Imposing the
emergency medical income surtax. The emergency medical income surtax
will be imposed on the state income tax liability on each individual residing
in the county at the end of the individual's tax year, whether the individual's
tax year ends at the end of the calendar year or fiscal year. For purposes of
the emergency medical income surtax, an individual's income tax liability is
the aggregate of the state income taxes determined in Iowa Code section
422.5 less the nonrefundable
credits against computed income tax which are authorized in Iowa Code chapter
422, division II.
(3)
Administering the emergency medical income surtax. The
director of revenue shall administer the emergency medical income surtax in the
same way as other state individual tax laws are administered. All powers and
requirements related to administering the state income tax law apply to the
administration of the emergency medical income surtax including, but not
limited to, the provisions of Iowa Code sections
422.4,
422.20 to
422.31,
422.68,
422.70, and
422.72 to
422.75. The county board of
supervisors and county officials shall confer with the director for assistance
in drafting the ordinance imposing the emergency medical income surtax.
Certified copies of the ordinance shall be filed with the department of revenue
and the department of management within 30 days after the emergency medical
income surtax is approved.
(4)
Accounting for the emergency medical income surtax and paying the
surtax. The department shall account for the emergency medical income
surtax and any interest and penalties on the surtax so that there is a separate
accounting for each county where the income surtax is imposed. The accounting
shall be applicable to those individual income tax returns filed on or before
November 1 of the calendar year following the tax year for which the tax is
imposed. The emergency medical income surtax and any penalties and interest
should be credited to a "local income surtax fund" established in the office of
the state treasurer. On or before December 15 of the year after the tax year,
the director of revenue shall certify to the state treasurer the income surtax
and any interest and penalties collected from returns filed on or before
November 1.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code chapter
422D.
