The Iowa Department of Revenue has released its 2006 Tax Credit Claims Report.
According to the report, during tax year 2006, Research Activity Credit (RAC) claims were $30.5 million — with 70 percent of that in so-called “refunds.” Important to note: These “refunds” don’t “refund” anything. Rather, they are what the state pays companies that can’t use all of their tax credits because they don’t owe enough tax.
And, by the way, these payments are state secrets — secret checks to companies that don’t pay corporate income tax in Iowa. We only get to know the overall amount of them, but not who gets what. It would be different if these checks came from direct appropriations, through the regular budget process.
This is an example of spending through the tax code that is costing the state of Iowa many millions of dollars each year. By 2012, the RAC is expected to cost the state over $100 million – part of the growing problem of ballooning tax expenditures that have weakened Iowa’s revenue structure.
The new report from Revenue also notes that the supplemental RAC – separate awards provided by the Department of Economic Development – cost the state $13.4 million in 2006, with most of that ($13.1 million) in “refunds.” Governor Culver has proposed doing away with that spending to save the state $13 million in the FY2010 budget.
See the full Department of Revenue report.
