Iowa Admin. Code r. 701—210.15(423) — Various special problems relating to public utilities

210.15(1) Late payment charges. The amount of any charge, commonly called a “late payment charge,” imposed by a public utility on its customers shall not be subject to tax if the charge is in addition to any charge for the utility’s sale of its commodity or service and is imposed solely for the privilege of deferring payment of the purchase price of the commodity or service and furthermore is separately stated and reasonable in amount. 210.15(2) Due dates. The date of the billing of charges for a public utility’s sales shall be used to determine the period in which the utility shall remit tax upon the amount charged. The utility shall remit tax upon the sales price of any bill during the period that includes the billing date. Thus, if the date of a billing is March 31 and the due date for payment of the bill without penalty is April 20, tax upon the sales price contained in the bill shall be included in the return for the first quarter of the year. The same principle shall be used to determine when tax will be included in payment of a deposit. 210.15(3) Franchise fees. In general, the amount of any franchise fee that a public utility pays to a city for the privilege of operating and that is directly or indirectly passed on to the utility’s customers shall be included in sales price subject to tax. This will be true even if the amount of the franchise fee is computed as a percentage of other sales price subject to tax and is separately stated and separately charged to the immediate consumer of the commodity or service. However, if, in the future, it becomes lawful for a city to impose a sales or use tax and such tax is imposed upon the customers of public utilities in the guise of a franchise fee, the amount of this city excise tax shall not be subject to Iowa tax if the tax imposed by the city is separately stated and separately billed.