Section 203D.3A. Fees.

  The department shall collect fees as provided in this section, if established by the board pursuant to section 203D.5, at rates determined by the board as provided in that section. A person required to pay a fee shall use forms and deliver the payment to the department as required by the department.

  1.  a.  A person who applies for the issuance of a new license as a grain dealer pursuant to section 203.5 or a warehouse operator pursuant to sections 203C.7 and 203C.33 shall pay the department an initial participation fee as part of the application.

  (1)  In calculating the amount of the initial participation fee, an applicant for a license shall be deemed a licensee paying the full amount of the participation fee owing on the licensee’s first anniversary date as provided in paragraph “b”. The department must be satisfied that the applicant is calculating the amount due in good faith and using the best information available.

  (2)  If the department issues the license, the licensee shall recalculate the participation fee when making a payment on the licensee’s first installment date as provided in paragraph “b”. The licensee may notify the department of any overpayment and shall notify the department of any underpayment by the licensee’s first installment date in a manner and according to procedures required by the department. The department shall refund any overpayment to the licensee and the licensee shall pay any additional amount resulting from an underpayment.

  b.  A licensee shall pay a participation fee on four successive installment dates, with each installment date occurring on the last date of the fund’s fiscal quarter as provided in section 203D.3. The licensee shall pay twenty-five percent of the total participation fee assessed on each installment date. However, nothing in this subsection prevents a licensee from paying the participation fee on an accelerated basis. A licensee shall pay the first installment on the last date of the fund’s fiscal quarter immediately following the licensee’s anniversary date.

  (1)  For a licensed grain dealer, the anniversary date is the last date to apply for the renewal of the grain dealer’s license before the license expires as provided in section 203.5.

  (2)  For a licensed warehouse operator, the anniversary date is the last date to apply for the renewal of the warehouse operator’s license before the license expires as provided in section 203C.37.

  c.  A licensee is delinquent if the licensee fails to submit the payment when due or if, upon examination, an underpayment of the fee is found by the department.

  d.  A licensee shall not pass on the cost of a participation fee to sellers. The department may suspend or revoke the license of a grain dealer for passing on the cost, as provided in chapter 203.

  2.  a.  A per-bushel fee shall be assessed on all purchased grain.

  b.  The grain dealer shall forward the per-bushel fee to the department on a quarterly basis in the manner and using the forms prescribed by the department. A licensee is delinquent if the licensee fails to submit the full fee or quarterly forms when due or if, upon examination, an underpayment of the fee is found by the department. The grain dealer is subject to a penalty of ten dollars for each day the grain dealer is delinquent or an amount equal to the amount of the deficiency, whichever is less. However, a licensee who fails to submit the full fee or quarterly forms when due, is subject to a minimum payment of ten dollars. The department may establish and apply a margin of error in determining whether a grain dealer is delinquent. The per-bushel fee shall be collected only once on each bushel of grain.

  c.  A grain dealer may choose to pass on the cost of a per-bushel fee to the sellers by an itemized discount noted on the settlement sheet. However, if the per-bushel fee is not in effect, no grain dealer shall make such a discount on the purchase of grain. A discount made nominally for the per-bushel fee while the fee is not in effect is grounds for license suspension or revocation under chapter 203.

2010 Acts, ch 1082, §8

; 2015 Acts, ch 103, §13

Subsection 2, paragraph a amended