495—4.3(97B) Wage reporting and payment of contributions by employers.

1. 4.3(1)  Payment of contributions. For wages paid on or after July 1, 2008, all covered employers are required to pay contributions on a monthly basis. Upon enrollment as an IPERS-covered employer, the employer shall receive the appropriate forms and instructions from IPERS to submit contributions. IPERS will provide monthly statements to each employer.

   IPERS accepts the payment of contributions through electronic funds transfer. Payments utilizing the electronic funds transfer system shall be made according to the procedure described in subrule 4.3(3).

   IPERS accepts the payment of contributions using checks and remittance advice forms. Employers filing monthly employer remittance advice forms on paper for two or more employers shall attach the checks to each remittance form. Checks shall be made payable to the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System and mailed with the employer remittance advice form to IPERS, P.O. Box 9117, Des Moines, Iowa 50306-9117. Effective August 1, 2008, such payments and reports shall be subject to a fee as described in subrule 4.3(6).

2. 4.3(2)  Wage reports. For wages paid on or after July 1, 2008, all IPERS-covered employers are required to file wage reports on a monthly basis. IPERS will provide the forms and instructions for wage reporting to employers. Each wage report must include the required information for all employees who earned reportable wages or wage equivalents under IPERS. The reports must be received by IPERS on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the wages were paid. If the fifteenth day falls on a weekend or state-observed holiday, the wage report is due on the next regularly scheduled business day.

   Effective August 1, 2008, IPERS shall accept wage reports electronically via IPERS’ employer self-service Internet application or as a paper report. However, for those employers submitting reports other than via IPERS’ employer self-service Internet application, IPERS shall charge a fee as described in subrule 4.3(6).

3. 4.3(3)  Deadlines for payment of contributions.

   1. a. Contributions must be paid monthly and must be received by IPERS on or before the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which wages were paid. If the fifteenth day falls on a weekend or state-observed holiday, the contribution is due on the next regularly scheduled business day.
   2. b. For employers paying contributions by electronic funds transfer, wage reports and contributions may be submitted at the same time.

4. 4.3(4)  Request for time extension. A request for an extension of time to file a wage report or pay a contribution may be granted by IPERS for good cause if a request is made before the due date, but no extension shall exceed 15 days beyond the due date. If an employer that has been granted an extension fails to submit the wage report or pay the contribution on or before the end of the extension period, the applicable interest and fees shall be charged and paid from the original due date as if no extension had been granted. If the fifteenth day falls on a weekend or state-observed holiday, the contribution or wage report is due on the next regularly scheduled business day.

   To establish good cause for an extension of time to file a wage report or pay contributions, the employer must show that the delinquency was not due to mere negligence, carelessness or inattention. The employer must affirmatively show that it did not file the wage report or timely pay a contribution because of some occurrence beyond the control of the employer.

5. 4.3(5)  No reportable wages. When an employer has no reportable wages during the applicable reporting period, the wage reporting document shall be filed according to subrule 4.3(2). Even if there are no reportable wages, the employer’s account is considered delinquent for the reporting period and is subject to a fee until the report is filed. However, if the employer has notified IPERS on or before the due date that there are no wages to report, IPERS will adjust the due date, and no fee will be charged.

6. 4.3(6)  Fees for noncompliance. IPERS is authorized to impose reasonable fees on employers that do not file wage reports through the IPERS’ employer self-service Internet application as described in subrule 4.3(2), that fail to timely file accurate wage reports, or that fail to pay contributions when due pursuant to subrule 4.3(3).

   For submissions filed on or after August 1, 2008, IPERS shall charge employers a processing fee of $20 plus 25 cents per employee for late submissions and manual processing of wage reports by IPERS. Employers that are late or that do not use IPERS’ employer self-service Internet application may be charged both fees. In addition, if a fee for noncompliance is not paid by the fifteenth day of the month after the fee is assessed, the fee will accrue interest daily at the interest rate provided in Iowa Code sections 97B.9 and 97B.70. No fee will be charged on late contributions received as a result of a wage adjustment, but interest on the amount due will be charged until paid in full.

   If the due date for a fee falls on a weekend or state-observed holiday, the due date shall be the next regularly scheduled business day.

7. 4.3(7)  Erroneously reported wages for employees not covered under IPERS. Employers that erroneously report wages for employees who are not eligible for coverage under IPERS may file an IPERS wage reporting adjustment form. IPERS shall return a warrant or issue a credit for both the employer and employee contributions made in error. The employer is responsible for returning the employees’ share and for filing corrected federal and state wage reporting forms. Adjustments in such cases will be reported on the employer’s monthly statement. Under no circumstance shall the employer adjust these wages by underreporting wages on a future periodic wage reporting document. Wages shall never be reported as a negative amount. An employer that completes the employer portion of an employee’s request for a refund on an IPERS refund application form will not be permitted to file a periodic wage reporting adjustment form for that employee for the same time period. No fee will be assessed to employers that correct information as provided under this subrule.
8. 4.3(8)  Contributions paid on wages in excess of the annual covered wage maximum. For wages paid on or after July 1, 2008, whenever IPERS determines that an employee’s wages will exceed the annual maximum established under Section 401(a)(17)(A) and the cost-of-living adjustments to that maximum permitted under Section 401(a)(17)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code during a given month, IPERS shall notify the applicable employer and shall return the related excess contributions. IPERS will detail on the monthly report those employees for whom wages were reported in excess of the covered wage ceiling. The employer is responsible for returning the employee’s share of excess contributions and making the applicable tax corrections.
9. 4.3(9)  Termination within less than six months of the date of employment. If an employee hired for permanent employment terminates within six months of the date of employment, the employer may file an IPERS form for reporting adjustments to receive a warrant or a credit, as elected by the employer, for both the employer’s and employee’s portions of the contributions. It is the responsibility of the employer to return the employee’s share. “Termination within less than six months of the date of employment” means employment is terminated prior to the day before the employee’s six-month anniversary date. For example, an employee hired on February 10 whose last day is August 8 would be treated as having resigned within less than six months. An employee hired on February 10 whose last day is August 9 (the day before the six-month anniversary date, August 10) would be treated as having worked six months and would be eligible for a refund.
10. 4.3(10)  Reinstatement following an employment dispute. Employees who are reinstated following an employment dispute may restore membership service credit as described in 495—9.5(97B).

[ARC 9397B, IAB 2/23/11, effective 3/30/11; ARC 2981C, IAB 3/15/17, effective 4/19/17; ARC 3684C, IAB 3/14/18, effective 4/18/18]