South Carolina enacted a state low income housing tax credit on May 14, 2020. An overview of the credit, which mirrors the federal credit, can be found here.
The South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority (SC Housing) is required to issue an eligibility statement in order for a project to receive the state LIHTC. The eligibility statement also specifies the amount of the state LIHTC a project will receive. SC Housing has now issued a policy document to set forth the procedures to obtain an eligibility statement, which can be found here.
The SC Housing policy sets forth ...
On March 17, 2020, the South Carolina Department of Revenue announced, through SC Information Letter #20-3, that all South Carolina tax filing and payment deadlines starting on April 1, 2020 were extended to June 1, 2020. Penalties and interest are waived by SCDOR during this period. This includes not only state income taxes, but also sales taxes, admission taxes, and other taxes administered by SCDOR.
The IRS had initially announced that the due date for 2019 federal income tax payments was extended to July 15, 2019, but that the April 15th tax return filing date was not extended. 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 manufacturers, and certain other businesses, investing at least $2.5 million over a five year period in the state ...
South Carolina assesses a recording fee on deeds to real property. The South Carolina deed recording fee is imposed for "the privilege of recording a deed," and is based on the transfer of real property from one person or business entity to another. The fee is generally imposed on the grantor of the real property, although the grantee may be secondarily liable for the fee. There are specific instances where the grantee, and not the grantor, is directly accountable.
This fee is composed of two fees - a state fee of $1.30 for every $500, or fractional part of $500, of the real property's value ...
The South Carolina Infrastructure and Economic Development Reform Act, 2017 Act 40, was recently enacted and is designed to enhance South Carolina's economic competitiveness. The Act, commonly referred to as the gas tax bill, increased the South Carolina gas tax to pay for infrastructure improvements. In addition, the Act provided several tax credits and incentives, including a new property tax exemption for manufacturers.
The Act provides an exemption equal to 14.2857% of the property tax value of manufacturing property. S.C. Code § 12-37-220(B)(52)(a). The exemption is ...
If South Carolina property taxes are not timely paid, the county Assessor must assess a late-payment penalty. However, the county Treasurer is given authority to waive an assessed late payment penalty if a taxpayer can actually show the property taxes were timely paid. This late-payment waiver by the county Treasurer is discretionary, and generally not subject to appeal; however, if a taxpayer alleges error by the county in its assessment of a late-payment penalty, the taxpayer is then entitled to an administrative hearing through a county committee, consisting of the county ...
South Carolina's gas tax is one of the lowest in the country. The result is the deplorable condition of the state's highway system and roads. South Carolina is a conservative state, politically, and any tax increase, gas or otherwise, is often seen as political suicide for our state's elected officials.
Due to a groundswell of outcry, however, from residents, businesses, and even now from public officials, the state is about to pass major legislation to fund much-needed road improvements, and with the funding to be from a variety of new "fees" (note the aversion to referencing anything ...
The April 30th deadline for the calendar year South Carolina taxpayers to file their annual Form PT-300, Property Return, is fast approaching. Taxpayers subject to a fee-in-lieu of tax (FILOT) must file a new schedule with their 2017 property tax year that is designed to help local governments comply with their new financial reporting requirements under Statement No. 77 of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB Statement 77). GASB Statement 77 requires governmental entities that enter into "tax abatement agreements" to now disclose information about these ...
Property tax values in South Carolina are generally determined every five years through county-wide reassessments. Since property tax values are determined every five years (and subject to a 15% cap on increases under reassessments), the fair market value of property is often higher than the property tax value. When property is sold, however, property is revalued for property tax purposes at its fair market value, beginning in the property tax year following the sale.
Example: John purchased an apartment building in 2013 for $8 million. The property was assigned a value of $8 ...
The South Carolina Department of Revenue (the "Department" or "DOR") issued SC Revenue Ruling #16-12 on December 16, 2016. The ruling provides guidance to manufacturers on property tax return filings, assessment procedures, and payment obligations. The ruling focuses primarily on the procedural aspects applicable to a manufacturer's property tax obligations as opposed to substantive provisions used to determine a manufacturer's property tax liability.
While a taxpayer's liability for property tax under general South Carolina law is determined based on property 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 ...
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 ...
The South Carolina General Assembly has clarified how outdoor advertising signs (i.e. billboards) are taxed in the state for property tax purposes. The new law amends South Carolina Code Section 12-43-230, and applies to property tax years after 2014. See House Bill 4712.
Billboards are treated as personal property in most states, although a few treat billboards as improvements to real property. The new law provides that all "off-premises outdoor advertising signs" will be treated as personal property for South Carolina property tax purposes. "Off-premises outdoor advertising ...
South Carolina manufacturers are required to file an annual property tax return. The PT-300 must be filed with the South Carolina Department of Revenue ("Department" or "DOR") by the last day of the fourth month following the close of a taxpayer's accounting year (no extension is available). For example, calendar year taxpayers must file Form PT-300 by April 30th.
The Form PT-300 reports all property owned as of the close of the taxpayer's accounting year. There are ten different schedules that may need to be filed with the PT-300. The schedules report property subject to regular ...
Property taxes are often the largest South Carolina tax paid by manufacturers. Property taxes are assessed annually on real and personal property owned by a manufacturer (excluding inventory and supplies) on December 31st of the preceding calendar year. Property taxes are due on January 15th of the year following the tax year.
A manufacturer's property tax liability is determined by multiplying the value of its property by an assessment ratio by a local millage rate. The default property tax regime may be altered when a manufacturer enters into a fee-in-lieu of tax arrangement ...
Property taxes are the oldest taxes levied in the United States and the only major tax imposed by all 50 states. Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for local government entities in South Carolina. In South Carolina per capita property tax collections are almost twice as high as income taxes.
The amount of property taxes you pay is determined by the classification of your property, the tax rate set by your local government entity, and the value of your property. The classification schedules are set by law, and range from 4% for owner-occupied residential real estate to 10.5 ...
Rehabilitating or renovating an existing building can often be more expensive than greenfield construction. South Carolina provides several tax credits to encourage the use of abandoned buildings. The tax credits are available for the renovation or rehabilitation of qualifying buildings which have been abandoned. Recently issued guidance by the South Carolina Department of Revenue provides guidance on:
- Abandoned Building Income Tax Credit (SC Rev. Rul. #15-7)
- Statutes: Title 12, Chapter 67
- Form to Claim: TC-55
- Repeal Date: December 31, 2019
- Textile Mill Income Tax Credit (SC ...
For property tax purposes, the South Carolina Department of Revenue has the sole responsibility for appraising real and personal property used by specified businesses, including utilities, manufacturers, and transportation businesses (e.g. railways and airlines). The South Carolina Department of Revenue is authorized to use any accepted or recognized valuation method which reflects property’s fair market value, including methods with the unit valuation concept, when appraising real and personal property for property tax purposes.
The unit valuation method is not set ...
On June 11, 2013 the "South Carolina Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act" was signed into law by the Governor. The Act provides new incentives for the rehabilitation, renovation, and redevelopment of abandoned buildings in South Carolina. Taxpayers meeting the requirements of the Act can receive a tax credit equal to 25% of the cost of rehabilitating property against either (1) state income taxes and corporate license fees, or (2) property taxes.
In order to qualify for the credit a taxpayer must rehabilitate an abandoned building for commercial use. A building with an ...
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 31st of ...
On August 15, 2011, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in Clarendon County v. TYKAT, Inc. (Op. 270252011, WL 3568536) that Section 12-37-950 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as amended (the "Code"), subjected a leasehold interest in real estate to property taxation where the property was otherwise exempt from such taxation in the hands of the owner. The court's ruling in TYKAT affirmed the ruling of the South Carolina Administrative Law Court (the "ALC") below finding that TYKAT, Inc. ("TYKAT") was liable to Clarendon County for property taxes on the value of TYKAT's ...
In a case that will have far reaching implications for many estate and financial planners, the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the South Carolina Administrative Law Court and concluded that real property owned by a single member limited liability company may qualify for favorable property treatment as a legal residenceCFRE, LLC v. Greenville County Assessor, Opinion No. 27032 (SC Supreme Court filed August 29, 2011).
In order to put this opinion in perspective, a brief review of South Carolina income and property taxation is helpful. Turning first to the income tax, South ...