Tax Law Insights

South Carolina requires submission of a Form SC2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, in order for an attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent to represent a taxpayer administratively before the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR). This includes representation in examinations, audits, appeals, tax collection, and other administrative tax matters.

The Form SC2848 has important differences from its current IRS counterpart, including:

• In the Form SC2848 is the notification that "All Notices and Communications will be sent to the taxpayer only.", while the ...

South Carolina has some of the highest business property taxes in the Southeast. The state generally taxes land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and furniture and fixtures, but does not tax inventory, pollution control equipment, intellectual property, and other assets.

To reduce the effect of its high business property tax rates, and to make the state a more competitive environment for business, South Carolina offers a property tax incentive and tax savings for those businesses investing at least $2.5 million over a five year period in the state. This incentive is known as the ...

Many businesses are purchased in South Carolina every year. Many of these same businesses, however, have high worker unemployment claims, and are paying high South Carolina Unemployment Insurance taxes to the state to fund these claims.

South Carolina pays unemployment benefits to people that are out of work.  The state funds these benefits through a special tax on employers in the state - the South Carolina Unemployment Insurance Tax, or "UI Tax."  The more unemployment claims that are filed with the state and related to an employer, the higher the employer's UI Tax rate will be.

Where a ...

While South Carolina has low income taxes, and comparatively low sales taxes as well, the state makes up for this by having some of the highest business property tax rates in the Southeast. These property taxes are generally levied on the land, buildings and personal property (excluding inventory) of a business in the state.

South Carolina law does authorize its counties, which bill and collect the state's property taxes, to enter into property tax incentive arrangements with businesses, which can reduce property taxes. These property tax incentive arrangements generally require ...

Sales Tax: In South Carolina, a 6% sales tax is imposed upon every person engaged within this State in the business of selling tangible personal property and other types of goods and services sold at retail. Voters in various South Carolina counties have approved an additional 1 - 2.5% additional tax assessment ("Local Option Sales Tax") where the additional proceeds are applied by the county for infrastructure improvements or rollback of property taxes. This can bring the South Carolina sales tax to 8.5% in areas of the state.

Use Tax: South Carolina also imposes a complimentary 6% use ...

The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) administers the state's tax laws. Like the IRS, SCDOR audits tax returns, but only certain returns subject to South Carolina tax, such as South Carolina income tax returns, sales and use tax returns, and certain property tax returns.

Depending on the complexity of the issues being audited or examined by SCDOR, SCDOR audits can be conducted through correspondence, or through a field audit.

SCDOR field audits are generally conducted by "auditors." Each auditor has an immediate audit supervisor, and audit supervisors report to a ...

Beginning December 4, 2015, if you owe significant taxes to the IRS, the U.S. State Department now has the authority to deny or even revoke your passport.

Congress recently passed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, Public Law 114-94 (FAST Act), and, as part of this broad-reaching effort to fix our nation's roads, adopted a little-publicized tax collection provision requested by the IRS where individuals can be prevented from receiving, or, worse still, can lose their passports if they owe taxes to the federal government.

Section 32101 of the FAST Act adopted a new ...

South Carolina offers many statutory and discretionary incentives to promote capital investment and job creation in our state. The Job Development Credit ("JDC") is a discretionary credit, applied through and approved by the South Carolina Coordinating Council for Economic Development ("Council"), which is available to a new or expanding business making capital investment and creating new jobs in the state.

The JDC will reduce a business's state employee withholding tax liability (refundable only to the extent of withholding actually paid) as reimbursement of the cost of ...

The South Carolina Supreme Court recently ruled against Duke Energy Corporation (“Duke”) in Duke’s claim for a $126 million state income tax refund.  The issue came down to whether gross receipts from Duke’s sales of short-term investments should be included in the apportionment fraction used by South Carolina to divide income among South Carolina and other states in which Duke operates.  The South Carolina Supreme Court’s opinion is important because it can pose significant hurdles to businesses with multi-state operations that have planned with investment income to ...

If a taxpayer owes South Carolina taxes, the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) will require payment of these taxes, including any related penalties and interest. SCDOR will consider payment plans for outstanding state taxes, however.

SC Form FS-102, Installment Agreement Request, should be submitted for this purpose. A nonrefundable fee of $45 and a 10% down payment is required. All tax returns during the period of the payment plan must be filed. Collection information statements using IRS forms (e.g. 433-A, Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and ...

The South Carolina Department of Revenue (formerly the South Carolina Tax Commission) is the state's tax agency. Established as the Tax Commission in 1915, SCDOR came into existence in 1993, in connection with a state restructuring act.

SCDOR is organized centrally, with its headquarters in Columbia, and regional "Service Centers" and local field offices throughout the state. All state tax returns are filed and processed by SCDOR in Columbia.

SCDOR is led by a Director, Rick Reames, and an Executive Management Team consisting of Mont Alexander (Deputy Director of Field ...

South Carolina employers must pay a variety of taxes on employee payroll, including federal social security taxes (FICA and FUTA), and South Carolina employee income withholding taxes. While the employer is able to collect some of these taxes from the employee's wages, other taxes (like the employer matching portion of FICA and FUTA) must come out of the employer's pocket.

Another tax that South Carolina employers must pay is the state Unemployment Insurance Tax, or "UI Tax". All employers that pay wages in South Carolina must file a quarterly report with the South Carolina ...

South Carolina generally follows federal law for purposes of the assessment of tax, including time limits on which taxes may be assessed (statutes of limitation). The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) generally has 36 months from the date an original return was filed or due to be filed (whichever is later) in which to assess additional taxes. S.C. Code Ann. § 12-54-85(A). An important exception concerns substantial understatements of tax, however.

For federal purposes, an extended 6-year statute of limitations exists for substantial omissions of income - where a ...

South Carolina imposes a sales and complimentary use tax on the retail sale or use of tangible personal property in the state. The taxes are assessed by the South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR). Retailers are generally required to collect and remit the sales tax to the DOR, while purchasers are required to directly pay the use tax. There are significant exclusions and exemptions to both taxes. If a business retailer or purchaser does not pay the sales or use tax, the DOR may have the ability to make a "responsible person" assessment of the tax (including penalties and interest ...

The South Carolina Economic Impact Zone Community Development Act of 1995 established an income tax credit for qualified manufacturing and production facilities. The credit is designed to encourage capital investment in the state through the formation of new businesses and the retention and expansion of existing businesses. Known as the "investment tax credit", the credit was initially limited to businesses making qualified investments in 27 designated counties in South Carolina, but has been expanded statewide.

The credit applies for qualified manufacturing and ...

South Carolina provides an income tax credit to a taxpayer who invests in motion picture related projects. Specifically, the state provides a credit equal to 20% of the cash invested by a person in a company that: (1) develops or produces a qualified South Carolina motion picture project or (2) constructs, converts, or equips a motion picture production facility or post-production facility in South Carolina. Key requirements of each credit are:

• Motion Picture Project Credit
  • The credit is earned when cash only is spent. This credit, when combined with a taxpayer's other South ...

South Carolina provides a tax credit to corporations against the state corporate income, or state corporate license fees, equal to 20% of the qualifying costs of establishing a corporate headquarters in South Carolina, or expanding or adding to an existing corporate headquarters. The credit is made up of two parts, the real property costs and the personal property costs. Key Features of the credit are:

• A corporation may qualify for only the real property portion of the credit, or may qualify for both the real and personal property portions of the credit.

• Any unused credit may be carried ...

South Carolina offers a statutory incentive to new and expanding businesses that create jobs in our state. The Job Tax Credit ("JTC"), codified in S.C. Code Ann. § 12-6-3360, permits certain businesses to reduce their corporate income tax liability annually by a maximum of 50%. Any unused credit may be carried forward for up to 15 years. There are three types of JTCs: (1) the "traditional" annual job tax credit, (2) the "annual" small business job tax credit, and (3) the "accelerated" small business job tax credit. This blog will address the "traditional" JTC only.

To qualify for JTC, a ...

South Carolina offers a broad range of tax and financial incentives to encourage new and existing businesses to open or expand operations in the state. This is the first in a series of blogs which will review these lucrative incentives and how they function. This blog address the players in economic development in South Carolina, from the Department of Commerce to the county economic development alliances.

1. Department of Commerce

The South Carolina Department of Commerce ("DOC") is overseen by Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, who was appointed by Governor Nikki Haley. DOC is the ...

The South Carolina General Assembly approved a law on June 4, 2015 allowing the South Carolina Department of Revenue to offer an amnesty program to taxpayers in the state who have not filed tax returns and/or owe state taxes. The law becomes effective on the Governor's signature. Adoption of the law was advocated by the Department of Revenue.

The new law, South Carolina Code Section 12-47-397, is designed to encourage voluntary compliance and payment of taxes owed to the State. The law authorizes the South Carolina Department of Revenue to establish an amnesty program and to designate ...

On December 2, 2014, the South Carolina Department of Revenue issued S.C. Temporary Revenue Ruling No. 14-8 and No. 14-9 regarding the income and property tax treatment for married same-sex couples.Same-sex couples filing a federal income tax return with a married filing status must now file a South Carolina income tax return using the same married filing status.

In S.C. Temporary Revenue Ruling No. 14-8, the Department of Revenue instructs same-sex couples who are legally married under any state law to file their 2014 South Carolina income tax return as a married couple - either ...

Robert is a veteran tax return preparer of 20 years, who walks into his office on February 2, 2015 to begin a busy income tax filing season. Julie and Michelle stop by Robert's office and give their wage and income statements to Robert for the calendar year 2014. They tell Robert they were legally married in Massachusetts on July 4, 2013, but they are South Carolina residents now and wish to file both a federal and South Carolina income tax return as a married couple. Shortly thereafter, another couple, Mark and Brad, walk into Robert's office and state they were married in South Carolina on ...

In Colleen Therese Condon and Ann Nichols Bleckley v. Nimrata (Nikki) Randhawa Haley, et al., Civil Action No. 2:14-4010-RMG (November 12, 2014), the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (Charleston Division) held that South Carolina's prohibition of marriage for same sex couples who otherwise meet all other legal requirements for marriage in the state is unconstitutional and violates the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  The District Court also invalidated as a matter of law ...

A federal district court has ruled that the members of an accounting firm were each personally liable for the trust fund portion of the unpaid federal employment taxes of their client.

Buddy Light Accounting & Tax Services provided accounting and payroll services to their client, GC Affordable Dining, Inc., which included managing payroll and accounts payable, making federal tax deposits, issuing payroll checks to employees, and preparation of federal employment tax returns (Form 941) for the client. When the client began experiencing financial difficulties, it failed to make ...

In what can only be considered a "game-changer" for South Carolina property owners, the South Carolina Court of Appeals in Taylor v. Aiken County Assessor, ___ S.E.2d ___, 2013 WL 1223185 (S.C. Ct. App., March 27, 2013) has recently ruled that a current owner of property can "look back" and challenge the county assessed value of real estate not owned in the prior year.

For over half a century, tax practitioners in South Carolina have assumed, without much comment, that South Carolina law imposed responsibility to pay current property taxes on the owner of property as of December 31^st of ...

The IRS has long been aware of U.S. taxpayers living overseas who have not filed federal income tax returns or Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts ("FBARs"). Earlier this year, the IRS announced the reopening of its successful Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program ("OVDP") allowing individuals with unreported foreign bank account income to come forward and report this income, and to pay the related tax, interest and certain reduced civil penalties, but without criminal prosecution. The IRS has now announced a new alternative compliance procedure designed to provide ...

U.S. citizens that work or receive income from abroad are subject to U.S. income taxes on foreign income. The tax is applicable regardless of where U.S. citizens reside. U.S. taxpayers receiving foreign income must file an income tax return with the IRS reporting all foreign income and must pay the reported U.S. tax liability. U.S. taxpayers may be eligible for a partial foreign income exclusion as well as a housing cost exclusion. Foreign earned income is defined to include wages, salaries, or professional fees, and other amounts received as compensation for personal services ...

Generally, there are four methods of resolving an assessed federal tax liability: (1) full payment, (2) payment through installments under a written agreement, (3) an offer in compromise, and (4) bankruptcy. The IRS also has the authority to temporarily suspend collection or payment of federal taxes through placing an account in currently uncollectible status.

An Offer in Compromise (OIC) is an agreement between the taxpayer and the IRS that settles a tax liability for payment of less than the full amount owed. The IRS will generally accept an offer in compromise when it is unlikely ...

The IRS announced an important settlement program on September 21, 2011 where the IRS will now give many employers substantial tax relief for treating employees as "independent contractors". Details of the settlement program were provided in Announcement 2011-64, which will officially be published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin 2011-41, to be issued October 11, 2011.

Whether a worker is performing services as an employee or independent contractor depends on the facts and circumstances and is generally determined under a multiple factor common law test focusing on whether the ...

This post was co-authored by Adam Landy and Erik Doerring.

On July 5, 2011, the United States Tax Court abated penalties assessed by the IRS against a business taxpayer for failure to pay its employment taxes. The Tax Court agreed with the taxpayer that it had shown reasonable cause. In Custom Stairs & Trim Ltd. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2011-155, the taxpayer, Custom Stairs and Trim Ltd. had a history of filing its IRS Form 941 timely and making timely employment tax deposits. Beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2008, however, Custom Stairs began experiencing financial hardship ...

When spouses file a joint income tax return each is jointly and severally liable not only for the reported tax liability, but also for any additional taxes, penalties and interest later claimed by the IRS as due.  A spouse can request relief from this joint liability by filing a request for innocent spouse relief with the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS states that an innocent spouse request must be filed within two years after the date initial collection activities for the unpaid taxes have begun.  The United States Tax Court has repeatedly disagreed with the IRS, however, ruling in ...

The "South Carolina Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act of 2004" requires the South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) to review its regulations every five years to ensure that regulations do not place any unnecessary burdens on small businesses. Another provision of South Carolina law requires DOR to review its regulations every five years to determine if they should be retained, amended or repealed. At the conclusion of the review process DOR prepares a report and provides it to the South Carolina Small Business Regulatory Review Committee and the South Carolina Code ...