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 ...
The United States Tax Court recently determined the value of a conservation easement using a subdivision development method in the case of Schmidt v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2014-159. The case involved a taxpayer who purchased a 40-acre parcel of vacant land in May 2000 for $525,000, with the intention of subdividing and developing it. The taxpayer began the process of obtaining the required permits and approvals to develop the property. The facts indicated that the taxpayer would receive all required permits and approvals to develop the property, but the taxpayer ultimately granted ...
Writing for an 8-0 majority, with Justice Kagan abstaining, Justice Anthony Kennedy handed down the Supreme Court's ruling in the closely-watched United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., et al. case March 25, holding that severance payments to involuntarily terminated employees are taxable wages under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), and thus subject to Social Security and Medicare withholding. The Court took issue with a Sixth Circuit opinion which had found such payments not subject to withholding, stating that "[t]o reach its holding, the [Sixth Circuit] Court ...
The South Carolina Department of Revenue ("DOR") is the state agency charged with collecting most South Carolina taxes, including income taxes, sales and use taxes, and withholding taxes. If a taxpayer fails to pay an assessed tax liability, DOR may file a tax lien against a taxpayer, with the lien notice being filed in one or more of the county register of deeds offices. The filing of the lien notice makes the delinquent tax liability a matter of public record.
Prior to March 1, 2014, when a taxpayer fully paid the amount secured by a filed tax lien, DOR would file a lien satisfaction with the ...
In a recent private letter ruling, PLR 201405005, the IRS validated a succession plan implemented by a Subchapter S corporation to transition share ownership from retiring co-owners to certain key employees. An S corporation is a small business corporation which has made an election to be taxed under Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code and which, among other things, may not have more than one class of stock.
Specifically, the IRS concluded that profit on a redemption of the owners' shares by the company for notes will:
1. be taxed to them as capital gain reportable on the ...
On January 2, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") issued an advance copy of Revenue Procedure 2014-11 which updates the procedures for an organization to request retroactive or non-retroactive reinstatement after having its tax-exempt status automatically revoked under Section 6033(j) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") for failure to file required annual returns or notices for three consecutive years. Revenue Procedure 2014-11 will be published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin 2014-3, dated January 13, 2014.
Generally, Section 6033(a) of the Code requires ...
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 July 24, 2013 the South Carolina Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Centex International, Inc. v. South Carolina Department of Revenue, Opinion No. 27288. In a 3-2 decision, the Court found that a partnership did not qualify for the infrastructure tax credit and that its corporate owners could not claim the infrastructure tax credit. The partnership clearly incurred infrastructure expenses, but the Department of Revenue argued that only a corporate taxpayer was entitled to earn and claim the credit. The Court agreed.
The Court framed its analysis by reciting general ...