Iowa Admin. Code r. 701—300.18(422) — Tax treatment of income repaid in current tax year which had been reported on prior Iowa individual income tax return

For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1992, if a taxpayer repays in the current tax year an amount of income that had been reported on the taxpayer’s Iowa individual income tax return for a prior year that had been filed with the department and the taxpayer would have been eligible for a tax benefit under similar circumstances under Section 1341 of the Internal Revenue Code, the taxpayer will be eligible for a tax benefit on the Iowa return for the current tax year. The tax benefit will be either the reduced tax on the Iowa return for the current tax year due to the deduction of the repaid income or the reduction in tax on the Iowa return or returns for the prior year(s) due to the exclusion of the repaid income. The reduction in tax from the return for the prior year may be claimed as a refundable credit on the return for the current tax year. Example A: A taxpayer reported $7,000 in unemployment benefits on the taxpayer’s 1994 Iowa return that the taxpayer had received in 1994. In early 1995 the taxpayer was notified that $4,000 of the unemployment benefits had to be repaid. The benefits were repaid by the end of 1995. The taxpayer claimed a deduction on the 1995 Iowa return for the amount of unemployment benefits repaid during 1995 which had been reported on the taxpayer’s 1994 Iowa return as that action gave the taxpayer a greater reduction in Iowa income tax liability than the taxpayer would have received from a reduction in tax on the 1994 return by recomputing the liability by excluding the repaid income. Example B: A taxpayer had received a $5,000 bonus in 1994 which was reported on the taxpayer’s 1994 Iowa return. In 1995 the taxpayer’s employer advised the employee that the bonus was awarded in error and to be repaid. The $5,000 bonus was repaid to the employer by the end of 1995. The taxpayer claimed a credit of $440 on the 1995 Iowa return for repayment of the bonus in 1995. This represented the reduction in tax for 1994 from recomputing the tax liability for that year without the $5,000 bonus. This provided the taxpayer a greater tax benefit than the taxpayer would have received from claiming a deduction on the 1995 Iowa return from repayment of the bonus.