Des Moines Register: Iowa Legislature should restore judicial independence

In 2020, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected a married couple’s challenge to the Department of Revenue over a tax assessment and penalty involving the sale of farmland. The question was whether the couple had “materially participated” in a “business” by renting their farmland. The couple said they did, pointing to their bookkeeping and property maintenance. The Department of Revenue disagreed, arguing that the couple’s activities weren’t “regular, continuous, and substantial,” as required by the agency’s rule. Both sides had persuasive arguments, but rather than decide the case independently, the Supreme Court put a thumb on the scale of justice in favor of the tax collector.

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