Iowa Code 321.55 – Registration and financial liability coverage required for certain vehicles owned or operated by nonresidents
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
1. A nonresident owner or operator engaged in remunerative employment within this state or carrying on business within this state and owning or operating a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer within this state shall register and maintain financial liability coverage as required under section 321.20B for each vehicle and pay the same fees for registration as are paid for like vehicles owned by residents of this state. However, this subsection does not apply to a person commuting from the person’s residence in another state or whose employment is seasonal or temporary, not exceeding ninety days.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 321.55
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Days: means calendar days. See Iowa Code 322G.2
- Department: means the state department of transportation. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- highway: means the entire width between property lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular travel, except in public areas in which the boundary shall be thirty-three feet each side of the center line of the roadway. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Member: means a person who is a member in good standing of a fire department or a person who is an emergency medical care provider employed by an ambulance, rescue, or first response service. See Iowa Code 321.423
- Motor vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle purchased or leased in this state, except as provided in section 322G. See Iowa Code 322G.2
- Nonresident: means a person who is not a resident of this state. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Operate: means to ride in or on, other than as a passenger, use, or control the operation of an all-terrain vehicle in any manner, whether or not the all-terrain vehicle is moving. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Operator: means a person who operates or is in actual physical control of an all-terrain vehicle. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Owner: means a person, other than a lienholder, having the property right in or title to an all-terrain vehicle. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, joint adventure, or association, and the plural as well as the singular number. See Iowa Code 321H.2
- Resident: means as defined in section 483A. See Iowa Code 321I.1
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Vehicle: means any vehicle as defined in chapter 321. See Iowa Code 321H.2
2. a. A nonresident owner of a motor vehicle operated within this state by a resident of this state shall register the vehicle and shall maintain financial liability coverage as required under section 321.20B for the vehicle. The nonresident owner shall pay the same fees for registration as are paid for like vehicles owned by residents of this state. However, registration under this paragraph is not required for vehicles being operated by residents temporarily for not more than ninety days. For purposes of this paragraph, a vehicle is not operated in the state temporarily, and is therefore subject to registration and the owner is required to pay the applicable fees, if the vehicle is located in Iowa for more than ninety consecutive or nonconsecutive days and is operated on an Iowa highway by an Iowa resident during that time. It is unlawful for a resident to operate within the state an unregistered motor vehicle required to be registered under this paragraph. The ninety-day temporary period of operation provided for under this paragraph does not apply to a vehicle owned by a shell business as provided in paragraph “b”.
b. On or after July 1, 2013, if the department, in consultation with the department of revenue, determines that the nonresident owner of a vehicle is a partnership, limited liability company, or corporation that is a shell business, it shall be rebuttably presumed that the Iowa resident in control of the vehicle is the actual owner of the vehicle, that the vehicle is subject to registration in this state, and that payment of the fee for new registration for the vehicle is owed by the Iowa resident.
(1) Factors which indicate that a partnership, limited liability company, or corporation is a shell business include but are not limited to the following:
(a) The partnership, limited liability company, or corporation lacks a specific business activity or purpose.
(b) The partnership, limited liability company, or corporation fails to maintain a physical location in the foreign state.
(c) The partnership, limited liability company, or corporation fails to employ individual persons and provide those persons with internal revenue service form W-2 wage and tax statements.
(d) The partnership, limited liability company, or corporation fails to file federal tax returns, or fails to file a required state tax return in the foreign state.
(2) Factors which indicate that a person is in control of a vehicle include but are not limited to the following:
(a) The person was the initial purchaser of the vehicle.
(b) The person operated or stored the vehicle in Iowa for any period of time.
(c) The person is a partner, member, or shareholder of the nonresident partnership, limited liability company, or corporation that purports to be the owner of the vehicle.
(d) The person is insured to drive the vehicle.
(3) If the department determines that the nonresident owner of a vehicle is a shell business, the department shall notify the Iowa resident in control of the vehicle in writing that the Iowa resident is required to obtain an Iowa certificate of title and registration for the vehicle and pay the fee for new registration owed for the vehicle not later than thirty days from the date of the notice.