450.53 Duty to pay tax — penalties.

1. a. All personal representatives, except guardians and conservators, and other persons charged with the management or settlement of any estate or trust from which a tax is due under this chapter, shall file an inheritance tax return, within the time limits set by section 450.6, with a copy of any federal estate tax return and other documents required by the director which may reasonably tend to prove the amount of tax due, and at the time of filing, shall pay to the department of revenue the amount of the tax due from any devisee, grantee, donee, heir, or beneficiary of the decedent, except in cases where payment of the tax is deferred until the determination of a prior estate. The owner of the future interest shall file a supplemental inheritance tax return and pay to the department of revenue the tax due within the time limits set in this chapter. The inheritance tax returns shall be in the form prescribed by the director.

b. Notwithstanding paragraph “a”, an inheritance tax return is not required to be filed if the estate does not have a federal estate tax filing obligation and if all the estate or trust assets pass solely to individuals listed in section 450.9 as individuals that are entirely exempt from Iowa inheritance tax. This paragraph is not applicable if interests in the asset pass to both an individual listed in section 450.9 and to that individual’s spouse.

2. A person in possession of assets to be reported for purposes of taxation, including a personal representative or trustee, who willfully makes a false or fraudulent return, or who willfully fails to pay the tax, or who willfully fails to supply the information necessary to prepare the return or determine if a return is required, or who willfully fails to make, sign, or file the required return within the time required by law, is guilty of a fraudulent practice. This subsection does not apply to failure to make, sign, or file a return or failure to pay the tax if a return is not required to be filed pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph “b”.

3. A person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade taxes imposed by this chapter or avoid payment of the tax, is guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor.

4. The jurisdiction of any offense as defined in this section is in the county of the residence of the decedent at the time of death. If the decedent is a nonresident of the state, jurisdiction is in any county in which property subject to the tax is located.

5. A prosecution for any offense defined in this section shall be commenced not later than six years following the commission of the offense.

[S13, §1481-a17; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §7358; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §450.53]

83 Acts, ch 177, §21, 38; 94 Acts, ch 1165, §33; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2004 Acts, ch 1073, §32; 2005 Acts, ch 14, §2, 6

Referred to in §450.58, 450.94

Fraudulent practices, see §714.8 – 714.14