37. TOTAL ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS FROM FEDERAL SCHEDULE A.

General Instructions

Iowa follows federal guidelines for Schedule A itemized deductions with certain exceptions.

To complete either the federal or Iowa Schedule A (pdf), refer to the federal 1040 instruction booklet.

Attach your Iowa Schedule A or federal Schedule A to your return.

Taxpayers with federal bonus depreciation must complete and attach the Iowa Schedule A.

Medical, Dental, and Insurance Expenses

Health insurance premiums, line 1:

100% of the amount paid for health insurance premiums is deductible on line 18 of the IA 1040. It may be to your advantage to take this deduction on line 18 instead of Schedule A. If health insurance premiums were used as a deduction on line 18, they cannot be used on Schedule A.

Schedule A, line 2:

Certain itemized deductions are allowed only to the extent that the deductions exceed a percentage of federal adjusted gross income. These include medical and dental expenses that exceed 7.5% of federal adjusted gross income. The federal adjusted gross income used to determine these deductions is the taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income plus any bonus depreciation / section 179 adjustment from line 14 of the IA 1040.

Vehicle Registration Fee Deduction and Worksheet

If you itemize deductions, a portion of the automobile or multipurpose vehicle annual registration fee you paid in 2010 may be deducted as personal property tax on your Iowa Schedule A, line 6, and federal Schedule A, line 8.

This deduction is for annual registration fees paid based on the value of qualifying automobiles and multipurpose vehicles. Multipurpose vehicles are defined as motor vehicles designed to carry not more than 10 people, and constructed either on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional off-road operation [Iowa Code section 321.1(44)].

Annual registration fees on the following vehicles are not deductible: pickups (model year 2009 or older), motor trucks, work vans, ambulances, hearses, non-passenger-carrying vans, campers, motorcycles, or motor bikes.

Newer Vehicles:

Use the following worksheet to calculate the deductible amount of annual registration fees paid in 2010 for qualifying automobiles (model year 2000 or newer), pickups (model year 2010 or newer),* and multipurpose vehicles (model year 1993 or newer).

* For tax years 2008 and earlier, pickup truck registration fees could not be taken as an itemized deduction, because the fees were structured as a flat fee and were not based on value. However, beginning with the 2009 tax year, there was a change in the registration fee structure for pickups.

More specifically, only 2010 and newer trucks that weigh in at 10,000 pounds or less when empty are registered based on weight, list price, and model year. All other trucks are still subject to a registration fee based on weight. Consequently, certain 2011 model year and newer trucks may use the Vehicle Registration Deduction Worksheet.

Example

Lola purchased an automobile from Jennifer.
The actual fee Lola paid to register the automobile at the courthouse was $150.
The weight of the automobile is 3,000 pounds.
The deductible amount is calculated as follows:

Older Vehicles:

For qualifying automobiles (model year 1999 or older) and multipurpose vehicles (model year 1992 or older) the deductible amount is 60% of the annual registration fees paid in 2010.

Qualified Mortgage Insurance Premiums

Line 11 of the Iowa Schedule A has the same deduction for qualified mortgage insurance premiums as taken on the federal Schedule A.

Job Expenses and Miscellaneous Deductions

Certain job expenses and miscellaneous deductions are allowed to the extent the deductions are greater than 2% of the taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income.

The federal adjusted gross income used to determine these deductions is the taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income plus any bonus depreciation / section 179 adjustment from line 14 of the IA 1040.

State Sales/Use Tax

Effective with the enactment of Senate File 512 on April 12, 2011, the itemized deduction for state sales and use tax is allowed on the Iowa Schedule A.

For Iowa purposes, the itemized deduction for state sales and use tax paid is allowed only if the taxpayer claimed an itemized deduction for state sales and use tax paid on the Federal return. If a taxpayer claimed state income taxes as an itemized deduction on the Federal return, or claimed the standard deduction on the Federal return, the taxpayer cannot claim an itemized deduction for state sales and use tax paid on the Iowa return.

Exceptions to Federal Schedule A

Federal bonus depreciation

If itemizing, taxpayers that have adjustments for federal bonus depreciation on form IA 4562A must complete the Iowa Schedule A rather than using a copy of the federal Schedule A.

Health insurance premiums

100% of the amount paid for health insurance premiums is deductible on line 18 of the IA 1040. It may be to your advantage to take this deduction on line 18 instead of Schedule A. Schedule A may not contain any health insurance premiums which were used as a deduction on line 18.

Injured Veterans Grant Program contributions

These contributions do not qualify as itemized deductions.

Charitable Conservation Contribution Tax Credit

Do not include as an itemized deduction any contributions for which a credit is claimed on line 53 of the IA 1040.

Mortgage Interest Credit Deduction

Taxpayers with the mortgage interest credit can claim on their Iowa return a deduction on line 9b of Schedule A for all mortgage interest paid in the tax year and not just the mortgage interest that was deducted on the federal Schedule A.

School Tuition Organization Contributions

Do not include as an itemized deduction any contributions for which a credit is claimed on line 53 of the IA 1040.

Endow Iowa Tax Credit Contributions

Do not include as an itemized deduction any contributions for which a credit is claimed on line 53 of the IA 1040

New Motor Vehicle Taxes

Prior to April 12, 2011, the online version of the Iowa Schedule A included on line 6 the phrase “DO NOT INCLUDE new motor vehicle taxes deducted on federal Schedule A, line 7.” The Iowa Schedule A in the printed IA 1040 booklet contains the phrase “DO NOT INCLUDE new motor vehicle taxes deducted on federal Schedule A, line 7, or as indicated on federal 1040, line 40b.”  These references were included on the Iowa Schedule A prior to the federal decision to eliminate this deduction; therefore, all such references on line 6 of the Iowa Schedule A should be disregarded.

Married Separate Filers: If you used Iowa Schedule A, enter the totals from line 30 and line 31, Iowa Schedule A, in Columns A and B on line 39 of the IA 1040. If you used federal Schedule A, you should prorate your itemized deductions between you and your spouse in the ratio of each spouse's net income on line 26, IA 1040, to the total net income of both spouses. However, this allocation of itemized deductions should be done after any Iowa income tax is subtracted from the total itemized deductions claimed on federal Schedule A. Line 38 and line 40 of the IA 1040 should also be divided between spouses in the ratio of their respective net incomes. (Examples of how to prorate)

Go to Line 36

Go to Line 38