Creating a tax credit against the individual and corporate income taxes, the franchise tax, insurance premiums tax, and the moneys and credits tax for a charitable contribution to certain institutions engaged in regenerative medicine research and including applicability provisions

To qualify for certification, a regenerative medicine research institution must be a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, must have its principal place of business in Iowa, must be directly engaged in research in this state solely using adult stem cells designed to develop novel clinical therapies for the functional repair and replacement of diseased tissues and organs, including cancer research, must spend at least 51 percent of its annual budget on such research, and must agree to provide the department with certain information necessary to verify eligibility for the tax credits. In addition, a regenerative medicine research institution must not be a conduit for research by another organization, and must not be a postsecondary institution or an entity receiving 25 percent or more of its annual budget from a postsecondary institution. Certification by the department is valid for one year, at which time regenerative medicine research institutions may apply for recertification. In order to claim the tax credit, a taxpayer must submit an application to the department as described in the bill on or after the date of the charitable contribution and receive a tax credit certificate. No more than $2 million in tax credit certificates may be issued per fiscal year. If applications for the tax credit exceed that amount in a fiscal year, the department is required to establish a wait list in the order the applications were received and those applications will receive priority for receiving tax credits in succeeding years. The bill provides procedures for when a tax credit shall be claimed by a taxpayer. The tax credit is nonrefundable, but any amount in excess of the taxpayer’s tax liability may be carried forward for up to four years. The tax credit cannot be carried back to a prior tax year. The bill prohibits contributions receiving a tax credit from also being deducted as a charitable contribution. Finally, the bill includes legislative findings and a legislative purpose for the tax credit, and adds the tax credit to the list of tax expenditures to be reviewed by the legislative tax expenditure committee beginning in 2022. The bill applies to charitable contributions to a certified regenerative medicine research institution made on or after January 1, 2020. However, the bill provides that tax credit certificates shall not be issued by the department prior to July 1, 2020.