96.14 PRIORITY -- REFUNDS.
1. Interest. Any employer who shall fail to pay any
contribution and at the time required by this chapter and the rules
of the department shall pay to the department in addition to such
contribution, interest thereon at the rate of one percent per month
and one-thirtieth of one percent for each day or fraction thereof
computed from the date upon which said contribution should have been
paid.
2. Penalties. Any employer who shall fail to file a report
of wages paid to each of the employer's employees for any period in
the manner and within the time required by this chapter and the rules
of the department or any employer who the department finds has filed
an insufficient report and fails to file a sufficient report within
thirty days after a written request from the department to do so
shall pay a penalty to the department.
a. The penalty shall become effective with the first day the
report is delinquent or, where a report is insufficient, with the
thirty-first day following the written request for a sufficient
report.
b. The penalty for failing to file a sufficient report shall
be in addition to any penalty incurred for a delinquent report where
the delinquent report is also insufficient.
c. The amount of the penalty for delinquent and insufficient
reports shall be computed based on total wages in the period for
which the report was due and shall be computed as follows:
Days Delinquent
or Insufficient Penalty Rate
1--60 0.1%
61--120 0.2%
121--180 0.3%
181--240 0.4%
241 or over 0.5%
d. A penalty shall not be less than thirty-five dollars for
each delinquent or insufficient report. Interest, penalties, and
cost shall be collected by the department in the same manner as
provided by this chapter for contributions.
e. If the department finds that any employer has willfully
failed to pay any contribution or part thereof when required by this
chapter and the rules of the department, with intent to defraud the
department, then such employer shall in addition to such contribution
or part thereof, pay a contribution equal to fifty percent of the
amount of such contribution or part thereof, as the case may be.
f. If any tendered payment of any amount due in the form of a
check, draft, or money order is not honored when presented to a
financial institution, any costs assessed to the department by the
financial institution and a fee of thirty dollars shall be assessed
to the employer.
g. The department may cancel any interest or penalties if it
is shown to the satisfaction of the department that the failure to
pay a required contribution or to file a required report was not the
result of negligence, fraud, or intentional disregard of the law or
the rules of the department.
3. Lien of contributions -- collection.a. Whenever any employer liable to pay contributions refuses
or neglects to pay the same, the amount, including any interest,
together with the costs that may accrue in addition thereto, shall be
a lien in favor of the state upon all property and rights to
property, whether real or personal, belonging to said employer. An
assessment of the unpaid contributions, interest and penalty shall be
applied as provided in section 96.7, subsection 3, paragraphs "a"
and "b", and the lien shall attach as of the date the assessment
is mailed or personally served upon the employer and shall continue
for ten years, or until the liability for the amount is satisfied,
unless sooner released or otherwise discharged. The lien may, within
ten years from the date the lien attaches, be extended for up to an
additional ten years by filing a notice during the ninth year with
the appropriate county official of any county. However, the
department may release any lien, when after diligent investigation
and effort it determines that the amount due is not collectible.
b. In order to preserve the aforesaid lien against subsequent
mortgagees, purchasers or judgment creditors, for value and without
notice of the lien, on any property situated in a county, the
department shall file with the recorder of the county, in which said
property is located, a notice of said lien.
c. The county recorder of each county shall prepare and keep
in the recorder's office an index containing the applicable entries
specified in sections 558.49 and 558.52 and showing the following
data, under the names of employers, arranged alphabetically:
(1) The name of the employer.
(2) The name "State of Iowa" as claimant.
(3) Time notice of lien was filed for recording.
(4) Date of notice.
(5) Amount of lien then due.
(6) When satisfied.
d. The recorder shall endorse on each notice of lien the day,
hour, and minute when filed for recording and the document reference
number, shall index the notice in the index and shall record the lien
in the manner provided for recording real estate mortgages. The lien
is effective from the time of the indexing of the lien.
e. The department shall pay recording fees as provided in
section 331.604, for the recording of the lien, or for its
satisfaction.
f. Upon the payment of contributions as to which the
department has filed notice with a county recorder, the department
shall forthwith file with said recorder a satisfaction of said
contributions and the recorder shall enter said satisfaction on the
notice on file in the recorder's office and indicate said fact on the
index aforesaid.
g. The department shall, substantially as provided in this
chapter and chapter 626, proceed to collect all contributions as soon
as practicable after they become delinquent, except that no property
of the employer is exempt from payment of the contributions.
h. If, after due notice, any employer defaults in any payment
of contributions or interest thereon, the amount due may be collected
by civil action in the name of the department and the employer
adjudged in default shall pay the costs of such action. Civil
actions brought under this section to collect contributions or
interest thereon from an employer shall be heard by the court at the
earliest possible date and shall be entitled to preference upon the
calendar of the court over all other civil actions except petitions
for judicial review under this chapter and cases arising under the
workers' compensation law of this state.
i. It is expressly provided that the foregoing remedies of
the state shall be cumulative and that no action taken by the
department shall be construed to be an election on the part of the
state or any of its officers to pursue any remedy hereunder to the
exclusion of any other remedy provided by law.
j. The courts of this state shall recognize and enforce
liabilities for unemployment contributions, penalties, interest, and
benefit overpayments imposed by other states which extend a like
comity to this state. The department may sue in the courts of any
other jurisdiction which extends such comity to collect unemployment
contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit overpayments due this
state. The officials of other states which, by statute or otherwise,
extend a like comity to this state may sue in the district court to
collect for such contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit
overpayments. In any such case the director, as agent for and on
behalf of any other state, may institute and conduct such suit for
such other state. Venue of such proceedings shall be the same as for
actions to collect delinquent contributions, penalties, interest, and
benefit overpayments due under this chapter. A certificate by the
secretary of any such state attesting the authority of such official
to collect the contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit
overpayments, is conclusive evidence of such authority. The
requesting state shall pay the court costs.
k. If a political subdivision or a political subdivision
instrumentality becomes delinquent in the payment of contributions,
any payments owed as a government employer, penalty, interest and
costs for more than two calendar quarters, the amount of such
delinquency shall be deducted from any further moneys due the
employer by the state. Such deduction shall be made by the director
of the department of administrative services upon certification of
the amount due. A copy of the certification will be mailed to the
employer.
l. If an amount due from a governmental entity of this state
remains due and unpaid for a period of one hundred twenty days after
the due date, the director shall take action as necessary to collect
the amount and shall levy against any funds due the governmental
entity from the state treasurer, director of the department of
administrative services, or any other official or agency of this
state, or against an account established by the entity in any bank.
The official, agency, or bank shall deduct the amount certified by
the director from any accounts or deposits or any funds due the
delinquent governmental entity without regard to any prior claim and
shall promptly forward the amount to the director for the fund.
However, the director shall notify the delinquent entity of the
director's intent to file a levy by certified mail at least ten days
prior to filing the levy on any funds due the entity from any state
official or agency.
4. Priorities under legal dissolutions or distributions. In
the event of any distribution of an employer's assets pursuant to an
order of any court under the laws of this state, including any
receivership, assignment for benefit of creditors, adjudicated
insolvency, composition, or similar proceeding, contributions then or
thereafter due shall be paid in full prior to all other claims except
taxes and claims for wages preferred as provided by statute. In the
event of an employer's adjudication in bankruptcy, judicially
confirmed extension proposal, or composition, under the federal
Bankruptcy Act of 1898, as amended, contributions then or thereafter
due shall be entitled to such priority as is provided in section 64
"a" of that Act [11 U.S.C. § 104 "b", as amended].
5. Refunds, compromises and settlements. If the department
finds that an employer has paid contributions, interest on
contributions, or penalties, which have been erroneously paid or if
the employer has overpaid contributions because the employer's
contribution rate was subsequently reduced pursuant to section 96.7,
subsection 2, paragraph "e", solely due to benefits initially
charged against but later removed from an employer's account, and the
employer has filed an application for refund, the department shall
refund the erroneous payment or overpayment. Refunds so made shall
be charged to the fund to which the collections have been credited,
and shall be paid to the employer without interest. A claim for
refund shall be made within three years from the date of payment.
For like cause, refunds, compromises, and settlements may be made by
the department on its own initiative within three years of the date
of the payment or assessment. If the department finds that the
contribution that has been assessed against an employer is of
doubtful collectibility or may not be collected in full, the
department may institute a proceeding in the district court in the
county in which the employer against which the tax is levied is
located, requesting authority to compromise the contribution. Notice
of the filing of an application shall be given to the interested
parties as the court may prescribe. The court upon hearing may
authorize the department to compromise and settle its claim for the
contribution and shall fix the amount to be received by the
department in full settlement of the claim and shall authorize the
release of the department's lien for the contribution.
6. Nonresident employing units. Any employing unit which is
a nonresident of the state of Iowa and for which services are
performed in insured work within the state of Iowa and any resident
employer for which such services are performed and who thereafter
leaves the state of Iowa by having such services performed within the
state of Iowa shall be deemed:
a. To agree that such employing unit shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of the district court of the state of Iowa over all
civil actions and proceedings against such employing unit for all
purposes of this chapter, and
b. To appoint the secretary of state of this state as its
lawful attorney upon whom may be served all original notices of suit
and other legal processes pertaining to such actions and proceedings,
and
c. To agree that any original notice of suit or any other
legal process so served upon such nonresident employing unit shall be
of the same legal force and validity as if personally served on it in
this state.
7. Original notice -- form. The original notice of suit
filed with the secretary of state shall be in form and substance the
same as now provided in suits against residents of this state, except
that the part of the notice pertaining to the return day shall be in
substantially the following form:
And unless you appear and defend in the district court of Iowa in
and for ...... county at the courthouse in ......, Iowa, before noon
of the sixtieth day following the filing of this notice with the
secretary of state of this state, you will be adjudged in default,
your default entered of record, and judgment rendered against you for
the relief sought in plaintiff's petition.
8. Manner of service. Plaintiff in any such action shall
cause the original notice of suit to be served as follows:
a. By filing a copy of said original notice of suit with said
secretary of state, together with a fee of four dollars, and
b. By mailing to the defendant, and to each of the defendants
if more than one, within ten days after said filing with the
secretary of state, by restricted certified mail addressed to the
defendant at the defendant's last known residence or place of abode,
a notification of the said filing with the secretary of state.
9. Notification to nonresident -- form. The notification,
provided for in subsection 7, shall be in substantially the following
form, to wit:
To ...... (Here insert the name of each defendant and the
defendant's residence or last known place of abode as definitely as
known.)
You will take notice that an original notice of suit against you,
a copy of which is hereto attached, was duly served upon you at Des
Moines, Iowa, by filing a copy of said notice on the ... day of ....
(month), .. (year), with the secretary of state of the state of Iowa.
Dated at ......, Iowa, this ... day of .... (month), .. (year).
.........
Plaintiff.
By .......
Attorney for Plaintiff.
10. Optional notification. In lieu of mailing said
notification to the defendant in a foreign state, plaintiff may cause
said notification to be personally served in the foreign state on the
defendant by any adult person not a party to the suit, by delivering
said notification to the defendant or by offering to make such
delivery in case defendant refuses to accept delivery.
11. Proof of service. Proof of the filing of a copy of said
original notice of suit with the secretary of state, and proof of the
mailing or personal delivery of said notification to said nonresident
shall be made by affidavit of the party doing said acts. All
affidavits of service shall be endorsed upon or attached to the
originals of the papers to which they relate. All proofs of service,
including the restricted certified mail return receipt, shall be
forthwith filed with the clerk of the district court.
12. Actual service within this state. The foregoing
provisions relative to service of original notice of suit on
nonresidents shall not be deemed to prevent actual personal service
in this state upon the nonresident in the time, manner, form, and
under the conditions provided for service on residents.
13. Venue of actions. Actions against nonresidents as
contemplated by this law may be brought in Polk county, or in the
county in which such services were performed.
14. Continuances. The court in which such action is pending
shall grant such continuances to a nonresident defendant as may be
necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to defend
said action.
15. Duty of secretary of state. The secretary of state shall
keep a record of all notices of suit filed with the secretary, shall
not permit said filed notices to be taken from the secretary's office
except on an order of court, and shall, on request, and without fee,
furnish any defendant with a certified copy of the notice in which
the person is a defendant.
16. Injunction upon nonpayment. Any employer or employing
unit refusing or failing to make and file required reports or to pay
any contributions, interest or penalty under the provisions of this
chapter, after ten days' written notice sent by the department to the
employer's or employing unit's last known address by certified mail,
may be enjoined from operating any business in the state while in
violation of this chapter upon the complaint of the department in the
district court of a county in which the employer or employing unit
has or had a place of business within the state, and any temporary
injunction enjoining the continuance of such business may be granted
without notice and without a bond being required from the department.
Such injunction may enjoin any employer or employing unit from
operating a business unit until the delinquent contributions,
interest or penalties shall have been made and filed or paid; or the
employer shall have furnished a good and sufficient bond conditioned
upon the payment of such delinquencies in such an amount and
containing such terms as may be determined by the court; or the
employer has entered into a plan for the liquidation of such
delinquencies as the court may approve, provided that such injunction
may be reinstated upon the employer's failure to comply with the
terms of said plan.
17. Employer subpoena cost and penalty. An employer who is
served with a subpoena pursuant to section 96.11, subsection 7, for
the investigation of an employer liability issue, to complete audits,
to secure reports, or to assess contributions shall pay all costs
associated with the subpoena, including service fees and court costs.
The department shall penalize an employer in the amount of two
hundred fifty dollars if that employer refused to honor a subpoena or
negligently failed to honor a subpoena. The cost of the subpoena and
any penalty shall be collected in the manner provided in subsection 3
of this section.
96.14 PRIORITY -- REFUNDS.
1. Interest. Any employer who shall fail to pay any
contribution and at the time required by this chapter and the rules
of the department shall pay to the department in addition to such
contribution, interest thereon at the rate of one percent per month
and one-thirtieth of one percent for each day or fraction thereof
computed from the date upon which said contribution should have been
paid.
2. Penalties. Any employer who shall fail to file a report
of wages paid to each of the employer's employees for any period in
the manner and within the time required by this chapter and the rules
of the department or any employer who the department finds has filed
an insufficient report and fails to file a sufficient report within
thirty days after a written request from the department to do so
shall pay a penalty to the department.
a. The penalty shall become effective with the first day the
report is delinquent or, where a report is insufficient, with the
thirty-first day following the written request for a sufficient
report.
b. The penalty for failing to file a sufficient report shall
be in addition to any penalty incurred for a delinquent report where
the delinquent report is also insufficient.
c. The amount of the penalty for delinquent and insufficient
reports shall be computed based on total wages in the period for
which the report was due and shall be computed as follows:
Days Delinquent
or Insufficient Penalty Rate
1--60 0.1%
61--120 0.2%
121--180 0.3%
181--240 0.4%
241 or over 0.5%
d. A penalty shall not be less than thirty-five dollars for
each delinquent or insufficient report. Interest, penalties, and
cost shall be collected by the department in the same manner as
provided by this chapter for contributions.
e. If the department finds that any employer has willfully
failed to pay any contribution or part thereof when required by this
chapter and the rules of the department, with intent to defraud the
department, then such employer shall in addition to such contribution
or part thereof, pay a contribution equal to fifty percent of the
amount of such contribution or part thereof, as the case may be.
f. If any tendered payment of any amount due in the form of a
check, draft, or money order is not honored when presented to a
financial institution, any costs assessed to the department by the
financial institution and a fee of thirty dollars shall be assessed
to the employer.
g. The department may cancel any interest or penalties if it
is shown to the satisfaction of the department that the failure to
pay a required contribution or to file a required report was not the
result of negligence, fraud, or intentional disregard of the law or
the rules of the department.
3. Lien of contributions -- collection.a. Whenever any employer liable to pay contributions refuses
or neglects to pay the same, the amount, including any interest,
together with the costs that may accrue in addition thereto, shall be
a lien in favor of the state upon all property and rights to
property, whether real or personal, belonging to said employer. An
assessment of the unpaid contributions, interest and penalty shall be
applied as provided in section 96.7, subsection 3, paragraphs "a"
and "b", and the lien shall attach as of the date the assessment
is mailed or personally served upon the employer and shall continue
for ten years, or until the liability for the amount is satisfied,
unless sooner released or otherwise discharged. The lien may, within
ten years from the date the lien attaches, be extended for up to an
additional ten years by filing a notice during the ninth year with
the appropriate county official of any county. However, the
department may release any lien, when after diligent investigation
and effort it determines that the amount due is not collectible.
b. In order to preserve the aforesaid lien against subsequent
mortgagees, purchasers or judgment creditors, for value and without
notice of the lien, on any property situated in a county, the
department shall file with the recorder of the county, in which said
property is located, a notice of said lien.
c. The county recorder of each county shall prepare and keep
in the recorder's office an index containing the applicable entries
specified in sections 558.49 and 558.52 and showing the following
data, under the names of employers, arranged alphabetically:
(1) The name of the employer.
(2) The name "State of Iowa" as claimant.
(3) Time notice of lien was filed for recording.
(4) Date of notice.
(5) Amount of lien then due.
(6) When satisfied.
d. The recorder shall endorse on each notice of lien the day,
hour, and minute when filed for recording and the document reference
number, shall index the notice in the index and shall record the lien
in the manner provided for recording real estate mortgages. The lien
is effective from the time of the indexing of the lien.
e. The department shall pay recording fees as provided in
section 331.604, for the recording of the lien, or for its
satisfaction.
f. Upon the payment of contributions as to which the
department has filed notice with a county recorder, the department
shall forthwith file with said recorder a satisfaction of said
contributions and the recorder shall enter said satisfaction on the
notice on file in the recorder's office and indicate said fact on the
index aforesaid.
g. The department shall, substantially as provided in this
chapter and chapter 626, proceed to collect all contributions as soon
as practicable after they become delinquent, except that no property
of the employer is exempt from payment of the contributions.
h. If, after due notice, any employer defaults in any payment
of contributions or interest thereon, the amount due may be collected
by civil action in the name of the department and the employer
adjudged in default shall pay the costs of such action. Civil
actions brought under this section to collect contributions or
interest thereon from an employer shall be heard by the court at the
earliest possible date and shall be entitled to preference upon the
calendar of the court over all other civil actions except petitions
for judicial review under this chapter and cases arising under the
workers' compensation law of this state.
i. It is expressly provided that the foregoing remedies of
the state shall be cumulative and that no action taken by the
department shall be construed to be an election on the part of the
state or any of its officers to pursue any remedy hereunder to the
exclusion of any other remedy provided by law.
j. The courts of this state shall recognize and enforce
liabilities for unemployment contributions, penalties, interest, and
benefit overpayments imposed by other states which extend a like
comity to this state. The department may sue in the courts of any
other jurisdiction which extends such comity to collect unemployment
contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit overpayments due this
state. The officials of other states which, by statute or otherwise,
extend a like comity to this state may sue in the district court to
collect for such contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit
overpayments. In any such case the director, as agent for and on
behalf of any other state, may institute and conduct such suit for
such other state. Venue of such proceedings shall be the same as for
actions to collect delinquent contributions, penalties, interest, and
benefit overpayments due under this chapter. A certificate by the
secretary of any such state attesting the authority of such official
to collect the contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit
overpayments, is conclusive evidence of such authority. The
requesting state shall pay the court costs.
k. If a political subdivision or a political subdivision
instrumentality becomes delinquent in the payment of contributions,
any payments owed as a government employer, penalty, interest and
costs for more than two calendar quarters, the amount of such
delinquency shall be deducted from any further moneys due the
employer by the state. Such deduction shall be made by the director
of the department of administrative services upon certification of
the amount due. A copy of the certification will be mailed to the
employer.
l. If an amount due from a governmental entity of this state
remains due and unpaid for a period of one hundred twenty days after
the due date, the director shall take action as necessary to collect
the amount and shall levy against any funds due the governmental
entity from the state treasurer, director of the department of
administrative services, or any other official or agency of this
state, or against an account established by the entity in any bank.
The official, agency, or bank shall deduct the amount certified by
the director from any accounts or deposits or any funds due the
delinquent governmental entity without regard to any prior claim and
shall promptly forward the amount to the director for the fund.
However, the director shall notify the delinquent entity of the
director's intent to file a levy by certified mail at least ten days
prior to filing the levy on any funds due the entity from any state
official or agency.
4. Priorities under legal dissolutions or distributions. In
the event of any distribution of an employer's assets pursuant to an
order of any court under the laws of this state, including any
receivership, assignment for benefit of creditors, adjudicated
insolvency, composition, or similar proceeding, contributions then or
thereafter due shall be paid in full prior to all other claims except
taxes and claims for wages preferred as provided by statute. In the
event of an employer's adjudication in bankruptcy, judicially
confirmed extension proposal, or composition, under the federal
Bankruptcy Act of 1898, as amended, contributions then or thereafter
due shall be entitled to such priority as is provided in section 64
"a" of that Act [11 U.S.C. § 104 "b", as amended].
5. Refunds, compromises and settlements. If the department
finds that an employer has paid contributions, interest on
contributions, or penalties, which have been erroneously paid or if
the employer has overpaid contributions because the employer's
contribution rate was subsequently reduced pursuant to section 96.7,
subsection 2, paragraph "e", solely due to benefits initially
charged against but later removed from an employer's account, and the
employer has filed an application for refund, the department shall
refund the erroneous payment or overpayment. Refunds so made shall
be charged to the fund to which the collections have been credited,
and shall be paid to the employer without interest. A claim for
refund shall be made within three years from the date of payment.
For like cause, refunds, compromises, and settlements may be made by
the department on its own initiative within three years of the date
of the payment or assessment. If the department finds that the
contribution that has been assessed against an employer is of
doubtful collectibility or may not be collected in full, the
department may institute a proceeding in the district court in the
county in which the employer against which the tax is levied is
located, requesting authority to compromise the contribution. Notice
of the filing of an application shall be given to the interested
parties as the court may prescribe. The court upon hearing may
authorize the department to compromise and settle its claim for the
contribution and shall fix the amount to be received by the
department in full settlement of the claim and shall authorize the
release of the department's lien for the contribution.
6. Nonresident employing units. Any employing unit which is
a nonresident of the state of Iowa and for which services are
performed in insured work within the state of Iowa and any resident
employer for which such services are performed and who thereafter
leaves the state of Iowa by having such services performed within the
state of Iowa shall be deemed:
a. To agree that such employing unit shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of the district court of the state of Iowa over all
civil actions and proceedings against such employing unit for all
purposes of this chapter, and
b. To appoint the secretary of state of this state as its
lawful attorney upon whom may be served all original notices of suit
and other legal processes pertaining to such actions and proceedings,
and
c. To agree that any original notice of suit or any other
legal process so served upon such nonresident employing unit shall be
of the same legal force and validity as if personally served on it in
this state.
7. Original notice -- form. The original notice of suit
filed with the secretary of state shall be in form and substance the
same as now provided in suits against residents of this state, except
that the part of the notice pertaining to the return day shall be in
substantially the following form:
And unless you appear and defend in the district court of Iowa in
and for ...... county at the courthouse in ......, Iowa, before noon
of the sixtieth day following the filing of this notice with the
secretary of state of this state, you will be adjudged in default,
your default entered of record, and judgment rendered against you for
the relief sought in plaintiff's petition.
8. Manner of service. Plaintiff in any such action shall
cause the original notice of suit to be served as follows:
a. By filing a copy of said original notice of suit with said
secretary of state, together with a fee of four dollars, and
b. By mailing to the defendant, and to each of the defendants
if more than one, within ten days after said filing with the
secretary of state, by restricted certified mail addressed to the
defendant at the defendant's last known residence or place of abode,
a notification of the said filing with the secretary of state.
9. Notification to nonresident -- form. The notification,
provided for in subsection 7, shall be in substantially the following
form, to wit:
To ...... (Here insert the name of each defendant and the
defendant's residence or last known place of abode as definitely as
known.)
You will take notice that an original notice of suit against you,
a copy of which is hereto attached, was duly served upon you at Des
Moines, Iowa, by filing a copy of said notice on the ... day of ....
(month), .. (year), with the secretary of state of the state of Iowa.
Dated at ......, Iowa, this ... day of .... (month), .. (year).
.........
Plaintiff.
By .......
Attorney for Plaintiff.
10. Optional notification. In lieu of mailing said
notification to the defendant in a foreign state, plaintiff may cause
said notification to be personally served in the foreign state on the
defendant by any adult person not a party to the suit, by delivering
said notification to the defendant or by offering to make such
delivery in case defendant refuses to accept delivery.
11. Proof of service. Proof of the filing of a copy of said
original notice of suit with the secretary of state, and proof of the
mailing or personal delivery of said notification to said nonresident
shall be made by affidavit of the party doing said acts. All
affidavits of service shall be endorsed upon or attached to the
originals of the papers to which they relate. All proofs of service,
including the restricted certified mail return receipt, shall be
forthwith filed with the clerk of the district court.
12. Actual service within this state. The foregoing
provisions relative to service of original notice of suit on
nonresidents shall not be deemed to prevent actual personal service
in this state upon the nonresident in the time, manner, form, and
under the conditions provided for service on residents.
13. Venue of actions. Actions against nonresidents as
contemplated by this law may be brought in Polk county, or in the
county in which such services were performed.
14. Continuances. The court in which such action is pending
shall grant such continuances to a nonresident defendant as may be
necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to defend
said action.
15. Duty of secretary of state. The secretary of state shall
keep a record of all notices of suit filed with the secretary, shall
not permit said filed notices to be taken from the secretary's office
except on an order of court, and shall, on request, and without fee,
furnish any defendant with a certified copy of the notice in which
the person is a defendant.
16. Injunction upon nonpayment. Any employer or employing
unit refusing or failing to make and file required reports or to pay
any contributions, interest or penalty under the provisions of this
chapter, after ten days' written notice sent by the department to the
employer's or employing unit's last known address by certified mail,
may be enjoined from operating any business in the state while in
violation of this chapter upon the complaint of the department in the
district court of a county in which the employer or employing unit
has or had a place of business within the state, and any temporary
injunction enjoining the continuance of such business may be granted
without notice and without a bond being required from the department.
Such injunction may enjoin any employer or employing unit from
operating a business unit until the delinquent contributions,
interest or penalties shall have been made and filed or paid; or the
employer shall have furnished a good and sufficient bond conditioned
upon the payment of such delinquencies in such an amount and
containing such terms as may be determined by the court; or the
employer has entered into a plan for the liquidation of such
delinquencies as the court may approve, provided that such injunction
may be reinstated upon the employer's failure to comply with the
terms of said plan.
17. Employer subpoena cost and penalty. An employer who is
served with a subpoena pursuant to section 96.11, subsection 7, for
the investigation of an employer liability issue, to complete audits,
to secure reports, or to assess contributions shall pay all costs
associated with the subpoena, including service fees and court costs.
The department shall penalize an employer in the amount of two
hundred fifty dollars if that employer refused to honor a subpoena or
negligently failed to honor a subpoena. The cost of the subpoena and
any penalty shall be collected in the manner provided in subsection 3
of this section.
96.14 PRIORITY -- REFUNDS.
1. Interest. Any employer who shall fail to pay any
contribution and at the time required by this chapter and the rules
of the department shall pay to the department in addition to such
contribution, interest thereon at the rate of one percent per month
and one-thirtieth of one percent for each day or fraction thereof
computed from the date upon which said contribution should have been
paid.
2. Penalties. Any employer who shall fail to file a report
of wages paid to each of the employer's employees for any period in
the manner and within the time required by this chapter and the rules
of the department or any employer who the department finds has filed
an insufficient report and fails to file a sufficient report within
thirty days after a written request from the department to do so
shall pay a penalty to the department.
a. The penalty shall become effective with the first day the
report is delinquent or, where a report is insufficient, with the
thirty-first day following the written request for a sufficient
report.
b. The penalty for failing to file a sufficient report shall
be in addition to any penalty incurred for a delinquent report where
the delinquent report is also insufficient.
c. The amount of the penalty for delinquent and insufficient
reports shall be computed based on total wages in the period for
which the report was due and shall be computed as follows:
Days Delinquent
or Insufficient Penalty Rate
1--60 0.1%
61--120 0.2%
121--180 0.3%
181--240 0.4%
241 or over 0.5%
d. A penalty shall not be less than thirty-five dollars for
each delinquent or insufficient report. Interest, penalties, and
cost shall be collected by the department in the same manner as
provided by this chapter for contributions.
e. If the department finds that any employer has willfully
failed to pay any contribution or part thereof when required by this
chapter and the rules of the department, with intent to defraud the
department, then such employer shall in addition to such contribution
or part thereof, pay a contribution equal to fifty percent of the
amount of such contribution or part thereof, as the case may be.
f. If any tendered payment of any amount due in the form of a
check, draft, or money order is not honored when presented to a
financial institution, any costs assessed to the department by the
financial institution and a fee of thirty dollars shall be assessed
to the employer.
g. The department may cancel any interest or penalties if it
is shown to the satisfaction of the department that the failure to
pay a required contribution or to file a required report was not the
result of negligence, fraud, or intentional disregard of the law or
the rules of the department.
3. Lien of contributions -- collection.a. Whenever any employer liable to pay contributions refuses
or neglects to pay the same, the amount, including any interest,
together with the costs that may accrue in addition thereto, shall be
a lien in favor of the state upon all property and rights to
property, whether real or personal, belonging to said employer. An
assessment of the unpaid contributions, interest and penalty shall be
applied as provided in section 96.7, subsection 3, paragraphs "a"
and "b", and the lien shall attach as of the date the assessment
is mailed or personally served upon the employer and shall continue
for ten years, or until the liability for the amount is satisfied,
unless sooner released or otherwise discharged. The lien may, within
ten years from the date the lien attaches, be extended for up to an
additional ten years by filing a notice during the ninth year with
the appropriate county official of any county. However, the
department may release any lien, when after diligent investigation
and effort it determines that the amount due is not collectible.
b. In order to preserve the aforesaid lien against subsequent
mortgagees, purchasers or judgment creditors, for value and without
notice of the lien, on any property situated in a county, the
department shall file with the recorder of the county, in which said
property is located, a notice of said lien.
c. The county recorder of each county shall prepare and keep
in the recorder's office an index containing the applicable entries
specified in sections 558.49 and 558.52 and showing the following
data, under the names of employers, arranged alphabetically:
(1) The name of the employer.
(2) The name "State of Iowa" as claimant.
(3) Time notice of lien was filed for recording.
(4) Date of notice.
(5) Amount of lien then due.
(6) When satisfied.
d. The recorder shall endorse on each notice of lien the day,
hour, and minute when filed for recording and the document reference
number, shall index the notice in the index and shall record the lien
in the manner provided for recording real estate mortgages. The lien
is effective from the time of the indexing of the lien.
e. The department shall pay recording fees as provided in
section 331.604, for the recording of the lien, or for its
satisfaction.
f. Upon the payment of contributions as to which the
department has filed notice with a county recorder, the department
shall forthwith file with said recorder a satisfaction of said
contributions and the recorder shall enter said satisfaction on the
notice on file in the recorder's office and indicate said fact on the
index aforesaid.
g. The department shall, substantially as provided in this
chapter and chapter 626, proceed to collect all contributions as soon
as practicable after they become delinquent, except that no property
of the employer is exempt from payment of the contributions.
h. If, after due notice, any employer defaults in any payment
of contributions or interest thereon, the amount due may be collected
by civil action in the name of the department and the employer
adjudged in default shall pay the costs of such action. Civil
actions brought under this section to collect contributions or
interest thereon from an employer shall be heard by the court at the
earliest possible date and shall be entitled to preference upon the
calendar of the court over all other civil actions except petitions
for judicial review under this chapter and cases arising under the
workers' compensation law of this state.
i. It is expressly provided that the foregoing remedies of
the state shall be cumulative and that no action taken by the
department shall be construed to be an election on the part of the
state or any of its officers to pursue any remedy hereunder to the
exclusion of any other remedy provided by law.
j. The courts of this state shall recognize and enforce
liabilities for unemployment contributions, penalties, interest, and
benefit overpayments imposed by other states which extend a like
comity to this state. The department may sue in the courts of any
other jurisdiction which extends such comity to collect unemployment
contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit overpayments due this
state. The officials of other states which, by statute or otherwise,
extend a like comity to this state may sue in the district court to
collect for such contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit
overpayments. In any such case the director, as agent for and on
behalf of any other state, may institute and conduct such suit for
such other state. Venue of such proceedings shall be the same as for
actions to collect delinquent contributions, penalties, interest, and
benefit overpayments due under this chapter. A certificate by the
secretary of any such state attesting the authority of such official
to collect the contributions, penalties, interest, and benefit
overpayments, is conclusive evidence of such authority. The
requesting state shall pay the court costs.
k. If a political subdivision or a political subdivision
instrumentality becomes delinquent in the payment of contributions,
any payments owed as a government employer, penalty, interest and
costs for more than two calendar quarters, the amount of such
delinquency shall be deducted from any further moneys due the
employer by the state. Such deduction shall be made by the director
of the department of administrative services upon certification of
the amount due. A copy of the certification will be mailed to the
employer.
l. If an amount due from a governmental entity of this state
remains due and unpaid for a period of one hundred twenty days after
the due date, the director shall take action as necessary to collect
the amount and shall levy against any funds due the governmental
entity from the state treasurer, director of the department of
administrative services, or any other official or agency of this
state, or against an account established by the entity in any bank.
The official, agency, or bank shall deduct the amount certified by
the director from any accounts or deposits or any funds due the
delinquent governmental entity without regard to any prior claim and
shall promptly forward the amount to the director for the fund.
However, the director shall notify the delinquent entity of the
director's intent to file a levy by certified mail at least ten days
prior to filing the levy on any funds due the entity from any state
official or agency.
4. Priorities under legal dissolutions or distributions. In
the event of any distribution of an employer's assets pursuant to an
order of any court under the laws of this state, including any
receivership, assignment for benefit of creditors, adjudicated
insolvency, composition, or similar proceeding, contributions then or
thereafter due shall be paid in full prior to all other claims except
taxes and claims for wages preferred as provided by statute. In the
event of an employer's adjudication in bankruptcy, judicially
confirmed extension proposal, or composition, under the federal
Bankruptcy Act of 1898, as amended, contributions then or thereafter
due shall be entitled to such priority as is provided in section 64
"a" of that Act [11 U.S.C. § 104 "b", as amended].
5. Refunds, compromises and settlements. If the department
finds that an employer has paid contributions, interest on
contributions, or penalties, which have been erroneously paid or if
the employer has overpaid contributions because the employer's
contribution rate was subsequently reduced pursuant to section 96.7,
subsection 2, paragraph "e", solely due to benefits initially
charged against but later removed from an employer's account, and the
employer has filed an application for refund, the department shall
refund the erroneous payment or overpayment. Refunds so made shall
be charged to the fund to which the collections have been credited,
and shall be paid to the employer without interest. A claim for
refund shall be made within three years from the date of payment.
For like cause, refunds, compromises, and settlements may be made by
the department on its own initiative within three years of the date
of the payment or assessment. If the department finds that the
contribution that has been assessed against an employer is of
doubtful collectibility or may not be collected in full, the
department may institute a proceeding in the district court in the
county in which the employer against which the tax is levied is
located, requesting authority to compromise the contribution. Notice
of the filing of an application shall be given to the interested
parties as the court may prescribe. The court upon hearing may
authorize the department to compromise and settle its claim for the
contribution and shall fix the amount to be received by the
department in full settlement of the claim and shall authorize the
release of the department's lien for the contribution.
6. Nonresident employing units. Any employing unit which is
a nonresident of the state of Iowa and for which services are
performed in insured work within the state of Iowa and any resident
employer for which such services are performed and who thereafter
leaves the state of Iowa by having such services performed within the
state of Iowa shall be deemed:
a. To agree that such employing unit shall be subject to the
jurisdiction of the district court of the state of Iowa over all
civil actions and proceedings against such employing unit for all
purposes of this chapter, and
b. To appoint the secretary of state of this state as its
lawful attorney upon whom may be served all original notices of suit
and other legal processes pertaining to such actions and proceedings,
and
c. To agree that any original notice of suit or any other
legal process so served upon such nonresident employing unit shall be
of the same legal force and validity as if personally served on it in
this state.
7. Original notice -- form. The original notice of suit
filed with the secretary of state shall be in form and substance the
same as now provided in suits against residents of this state, except
that the part of the notice pertaining to the return day shall be in
substantially the following form:
And unless you appear and defend in the district court of Iowa in
and for ...... county at the courthouse in ......, Iowa, before noon
of the sixtieth day following the filing of this notice with the
secretary of state of this state, you will be adjudged in default,
your default entered of record, and judgment rendered against you for
the relief sought in plaintiff's petition.
8. Manner of service. Plaintiff in any such action shall
cause the original notice of suit to be served as follows:
a. By filing a copy of said original notice of suit with said
secretary of state, together with a fee of four dollars, and
b. By mailing to the defendant, and to each of the defendants
if more than one, within ten days after said filing with the
secretary of state, by restricted certified mail addressed to the
defendant at the defendant's last known residence or place of abode,
a notification of the said filing with the secretary of state.
9. Notification to nonresident -- form. The notification,
provided for in subsection 7, shall be in substantially the following
form, to wit:
To ...... (Here insert the name of each defendant and the
defendant's residence or last known place of abode as definitely as
known.)
You will take notice that an original notice of suit against you,
a copy of which is hereto attached, was duly served upon you at Des
Moines, Iowa, by filing a copy of said notice on the ... day of ....
(month), .. (year), with the secretary of state of the state of Iowa.
Dated at ......, Iowa, this ... day of .... (month), .. (year).
.........
Plaintiff.
By .......
Attorney for Plaintiff.
10. Optional notification. In lieu of mailing said
notification to the defendant in a foreign state, plaintiff may cause
said notification to be personally served in the foreign state on the
defendant by any adult person not a party to the suit, by delivering
said notification to the defendant or by offering to make such
delivery in case defendant refuses to accept delivery.
11. Proof of service. Proof of the filing of a copy of said
original notice of suit with the secretary of state, and proof of the
mailing or personal delivery of said notification to said nonresident
shall be made by affidavit of the party doing said acts. All
affidavits of service shall be endorsed upon or attached to the
originals of the papers to which they relate. All proofs of service,
including the restricted certified mail return receipt, shall be
forthwith filed with the clerk of the district court.
12. Actual service within this state. The foregoing
provisions relative to service of original notice of suit on
nonresidents shall not be deemed to prevent actual personal service
in this state upon the nonresident in the time, manner, form, and
under the conditions provided for service on residents.
13. Venue of actions. Actions against nonresidents as
contemplated by this law may be brought in Polk county, or in the
county in which such services were performed.
14. Continuances. The court in which such action is pending
shall grant such continuances to a nonresident defendant as may be
necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to defend
said action.
15. Duty of secretary of state. The secretary of state shall
keep a record of all notices of suit filed with the secretary, shall
not permit said filed notices to be taken from the secretary's office
except on an order of court, and shall, on request, and without fee,
furnish any defendant with a certified copy of the notice in which
the person is a defendant.
16. Injunction upon nonpayment. Any employer or employing
unit refusing or failing to make and file required reports or to pay
any contributions, interest or penalty under the provisions of this
chapter, after ten days' written notice sent by the department to the
employer's or employing unit's last known address by certified mail,
may be enjoined from operating any business in the state while in
violation of this chapter upon the complaint of the department in the
district court of a county in which the employer or employing unit
has or had a place of business within the state, and any temporary
injunction enjoining the continuance of such business may be granted
without notice and without a bond being required from the department.
Such injunction may enjoin any employer or employing unit from
operating a business unit until the delinquent contributions,
interest or penalties shall have been made and filed or paid; or the
employer shall have furnished a good and sufficient bond conditioned
upon the payment of such delinquencies in such an amount and
containing such terms as may be determined by the court; or the
employer has entered into a plan for the liquidation of such
delinquencies as the court may approve, provided that such injunction
may be reinstated upon the employer's failure to comply with the
terms of said plan.
17. Employer subpoena cost and penalty. An employer who is
served with a subpoena pursuant to section 96.11, subsection 7, for
the investigation of an employer liability issue, to complete audits,
to secure reports, or to assess contributions shall pay all costs
associated with the subpoena, including service fees and court costs.
The department shall penalize an employer in the amount of two
hundred fifty dollars if that employer refused to honor a subpoena or
negligently failed to honor a subpoena. The cost of the subpoena and
any penalty shall be collected in the manner provided in subsection 3
of this section.
