1. A person shall not engage in or transact business as a retailer making taxable sales of tangible personal property, specified digital products, or furnishing services within this state or as a retailer making taxable sales of tangible personal property, specified digital products, or furnishing services for use within this state, unless a permit has been issued to the retailer under this section, except as provided in subsection 7. Every person desiring to engage in or transact business as a retailer shall file with the department an application for a permit to collect sales or use tax. Every application for a sales or use tax permit shall be made upon a form prescribed by the director and shall set forth any information the director may require. The application shall be signed by an owner of the business if a natural person; in the case of a retailer which is an association or partnership, by a member or partner; and in the case of a retailer which is a corporation, by an executive officer or some person specifically authorized by the corporation to sign the application, to which shall be attached the written evidence of the person’s authority.
lawyer at desk

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 423.36

  • Business: means those businesses conducted for profit, but excludes professions and occupations and nonprofit organizations. See Iowa Code 423.3
  • Business: means any trade, occupation, activity, or enterprise engaged in for the purpose of selling or distributing tobacco products in this state. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Consumer: means any person who has title to or possession of tobacco products in storage, for use or other consumption in this state. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • 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.
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Director: means the director of revenue. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Director: means the director of the department of revenue. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • 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
  • in this state: includes but is not limited to sales sourced to this state under this chapter. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Owner: means any of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 425A.2
  • Partner: means a person that holds an interest, directly or indirectly, in a partnership or pass-through entity. See Iowa Code 422.25A
  • Partnership: means an entity subject to taxation under subchapter K of the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations thereunder and includes but is not limited to a syndicate, group, pool, joint venture, or other unincorporated organization through or by means of which any business, financial operation, or venture is carried on and which is not, within the meaning of this chapter, a trust, estate, or corporation. See Iowa Code 422.25A
  • 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: means any individual, firm, association, partnership, joint stock company, joint adventure, corporation, trustee, agency, or receiver, or any legal representative of any of the foregoing. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Person: means an individual, trust, estate, fiduciary, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, corporation, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Personal property: includes but is not limited to tangible personal property and specified digital products. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Place of business: means any place where tobacco products are sold or where tobacco products are manufactured, stored, or kept for the purpose of sale or consumption, including any vessel, vehicle, airplane, train, or vending machine; or for a business within or without the state that conducts delivery sales, any place where alternative nicotine products or vapor products are sold or where alternative nicotine products or vapor products are kept for the purpose of sale, including delivery sales. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Place of business: means any warehouse, store, place, office, building, or structure where tangible personal property, specified digital products, or services are offered for sale at retail or where any taxable amusement is conducted, or each office where gas, water, heat, communication, or electric services are offered for sale at retail. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Purchase: means any transfer, exchange, or barter, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, for a consideration. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Purchaser: is a person to whom a sale of personal property is made or to whom a service is furnished. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Retailer: means any person engaged in the business of selling tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products to ultimate consumers. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Retailer: includes a seller obligated to collect sales or use tax, including any person obligated to collect sales and use tax pursuant to section 423. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Sales tax: means the tax levied under subchapter II of this chapter. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • seller: includes an affiliated group of sellers using the same proprietary system. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Services: means all acts or services rendered, furnished, or performed, other than services used in processing of tangible personal property for use in retail sales or services, for an employer who pays the wages of an employee for a valuable consideration by any person engaged in any business or occupation specifically enumerated in section 423. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Specified digital products: means electronically transferred digital audio-visual works, digital audio works, digital books, or other digital products. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • State: means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • State agency: means an authority, board, commission, department, instrumentality, or other administrative office or unit of this state, or any other state entity reported in the Iowa annual comprehensive financial report, including public institutions of higher education. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Tangible personal property: includes electricity, water, gas, steam, and prewritten computer software. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Use: means the exercise of any right or power incidental to the ownership of tobacco products. See Iowa Code 453A.42
  • Use: means and includes the exercise by any person of any right or power over or access to tangible personal property or a specified digital product incident to the ownership of that property, or any right or power over or access to the product or result of a service. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • Use tax: means the tax levied under subchapter III of this chapter. See Iowa Code 423.1
  • User: means the immediate recipient of the personal property or services who is entitled to exercise a right or power over or access to the personal property, or the product or result of such services. See Iowa Code 423.1
 2. a. Notwithstanding subsection 1, if any person will make taxable sales of tangible personal property, specified digital products, or furnish services to any state agency, that person shall, prior to the sale, apply for and receive a permit to collect sales or use tax pursuant to this section. A state agency shall not purchase tangible personal property, specified digital products, or services from any person unless that person has a valid, unexpired permit issued pursuant to this section and is in compliance with all other requirements in this chapter imposed upon retailers, including but not limited to the requirement to collect and remit sales and use tax and file sales and use tax returns.

 b. For purposes of this subsection, “state agency” means any executive, judicial, or legislative department, commission, board, institution, division, bureau, office, agency, or other entity of state government.
 3. To collect sales or use tax, the applicant must have a permit for each place of business in the state of Iowa. The department may deny a permit to an applicant who is substantially delinquent in paying a tax due, or the interest or penalty on the tax, administered by the department at the time of application or if the applicant had a previous delinquent liability with the department. If the applicant is a partnership, a permit may be denied if a partner is substantially delinquent in paying any delinquent tax, penalty, or interest or if a partner had a previous delinquent liability with the department. If the applicant is a corporation, a permit may be denied if any officer having a substantial legal or equitable interest in the ownership of the corporation owes any delinquent tax, penalty, or interest or if any officer having a substantial legal or equitable interest in the ownership of the corporation had a previous delinquent liability with the department.
 4. a. The department shall grant and issue to each applicant a permit for each place of business in this state where sales or use tax is collected. A permit is not assignable and is valid only for the person in whose name it is issued and for the transaction of business at the place designated or at a place of relocation within the same county if the ownership remains the same.

 b. If an applicant is making sales outside Iowa for use in this state or furnishing services outside Iowa, the product or result of which will be used in this state, that applicant shall be issued one sales or use tax permit by the department applicable to these out-of-state sales or services.
 c. If an applicant is required to collect sales or use tax and is not included in the definition of a retailer maintaining a place of business in this state in section 423.1, subsection 48, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (1), the applicant shall be issued one sales or use tax permit by the department regardless of the number of locations from which sales are made.
 5. Permits issued under this section are valid and effective until revoked by the department.
 6. If the holder of a permit fails to comply with any of the provisions of this subchapter or of subchapter II or III or any order or rule of the department adopted under those subchapters or is substantially delinquent in the payment of a tax administered by the department or the interest or penalty on the tax, or if the person is a corporation and if any officer having a substantial legal or equitable interest in the ownership of the corporation owes any delinquent tax of the permit-holding corporation, or interest or penalty on the tax, administered by the department, the director may revoke the permit. The director shall send notice by mail to a permit holder informing that person of the director’s intent to revoke the permit and of the permit holder’s right to a hearing on the matter. If the permit holder petitions the director for a hearing on the proposed revocation, after giving ten days’ notice of the time and place of the hearing in accordance with section 17A.18, subsection 3, the matter may be heard and a decision rendered. The director may restore permits after revocation. The director shall adopt rules setting forth the period of time a retailer must wait before a permit may be restored or a new permit may be issued. The waiting period shall not exceed ninety days from the date of the revocation of the permit.
 7. a. Sellers who are not regularly engaged in selling at retail and do not have a permanent place of business, but who are temporarily engaged in selling from trucks, portable roadside stands, concessionaires at state, county, district, or local fairs, carnivals, or the like, shall report and remit the sales tax on a seasonal basis, under rules the director shall provide for the efficient collection of the sales tax. This subsection applies to sellers who are temporarily engaged in furnishing services.

 b. Persons engaged in selling tangible personal property, specified digital products, or furnishing services shall not be required to obtain or retain a sales or use tax permit for a place of business at which taxable sales of tangible personal property, specified digital products, or taxable performance of services will not occur.
 8. The provisions of subsection 1, dealing with the lawful right of a retailer to transact business, as applicable, apply to persons having receipts from furnishing services enumerated in section 423.2, except that a person holding a permit pursuant to subsection 1 shall not be required to obtain any separate sales or use tax permit for the purpose of engaging in business involving the services.
 9. a. Except as provided in paragraph “b”, purchasers, users, and consumers of tangible personal property, specified digital products, or enumerated services taxed pursuant to subchapter II or III of this chapter or chapter 423B may be authorized, pursuant to rules adopted by the director, to remit tax owed directly to the department instead of the tax being collected and paid by the seller. To qualify for a direct pay tax permit, the purchaser, user, or consumer must accrue a tax liability of more than four thousand dollars in tax under subchapters II and III in a semimonthly period and make deposits and file returns pursuant to section 423.31. This authority shall not be granted or exercised except upon application to the director and then only after issuance by the director of a direct pay tax permit.

 b. The granting of a direct pay tax permit is not authorized for any of the following:

 (1) Taxes imposed on the sales, furnishing, or service of gas, electricity, water, heat, pay television service, and communication service.
 (2) Taxes imposed under section 423.26, section 423.26A, and chapter 423C.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 423 Contents