Tax Law Insights

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law requires DOR to review its regulations every five years to determine if they should be retained, amended or repealed.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 Commissioner.

Any small business, or organization representing small businesses, that is interested in providing comments concerning a DOR regulation and its affect on a small business may submit comments. Comments or suggestions must be received by September 1, 2011.

Taxpayer Impact

The breadth of regulations issued by DOR, and in some cases the absence of such regulations, often leads to disputes between taxpayers and DOR. The comment period affords the small business community a unique opportunity to provide comments to the DOR which will be reviewed by top policymakers.

The comment period provides an unparalleled opportunity for trade associations to submit comments on issues affecting their membership. Comments submitted by a trade association are likely to be more persuasive to DOR than comments submitted by individual member businesses. By submitting comments a trade association may be able to obtain clarification of the law for its membership, without the need to engage in legislative lobbying efforts or litigation.