South Carolina rollback tax laws changed in 2021, with potentially significant implications for real estate transactions where rollback taxes may come into play.
What are rollback taxes?
South Carolina Code Section 12-43-220 requires that any time a property changes from receiving the benefit of an agricultural use special assessment ratio property tax exemption to any other use, rollback taxes are to be assessed and billed to the property. The amount of the rollback taxes is equal to the sum of the differences, if any, between the taxes paid or payable on the basis of the fair market ...
South Carolina businesses have historically been subject to business license taxes on their gross income that vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act (the “Act”) was enacted in 2020, but the effective date was generally delayed until January 1, 2022. The Act should greatly simplify the previous complex and burdensome state business license tax regime. The Act creates uniformity by establishing a formal appeals process for taxpayers, setting one standard 12-month filing period (May 1st to April 30th ...
Due to unprecedented temporary closings of offices and businesses and stay-at-home orders issued across the United States during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many businesses have implemented temporary work at home options for employees. As a result, the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) announced temporary relief regarding a business’s establishment of South Carolina state tax nexus solely because an employee is temporarily working in a different work location due to COVID-19, and also provided guidance with respect to employer withholding ...
The State of South Carolina has now adopted legislation allowing “pass through” entities to elect each year to be taxed at the entity level on their active trade or business income instead of having their owners taxed at the individual level on this income. This includes partnerships, S-corporations and LLCs taxed as partnerships or S-corporations. This election can be filed for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020.
South Carolina has now joined a growing number of states that have enacted federal state and local tax “workaround” legislation, and which shifts state ...
Each municipality and county in South Carolina (a taxing jurisdiction) is authorized to impose a business license tax based on the gross income of a business that operates within its borders. Businesses operating in South Carolina have been faced with registration requirements, filing deadlines, and rate classes that vary by taxing jurisdiction. The South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act (the Act) was signed into law by the Governor on September 30, 2020, and seeks to simplify the burdens of complying with business license tax requirements. The majority of the ...
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 ...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) provides individuals with a stimulus payment of $1,200 per adult, plus $500 for each qualifying child age 16 and under (subject to phase-outs for higher income individuals). The stimulus payment provided by the CARES Act is structured as a refundable federal income tax credit.
South Carolina does not allow individuals to deduct federal income taxes in arriving at South Carolina taxable income. Consequently, federal tax credits generally have no impact on an individual’s South Carolina income tax ...
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 ...
The South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) has issued a proposed Revenue Ruling which will have a significant impact on South Carolina tobacco retailers, if finalized in its present form. The proposed Revenue Ruling, to be effective on January 1, 2020, addresses tobacco manufacturer rebates and refunds to retailers, and which DOR characterizes as “buydowns” and “promotional payments”- i.e. sales volume discounts. The proposed Revenue Ruling determines that these payments to retailers are subject to sales tax.
Tobacco manufacturers have provided their retailers ...
South Carolina imposes sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property. South Carolina generally does not impose a sales tax on intangible property, however, certain intangible property is deemed to be tangible personal property that is subject to sales tax. Deemed tangible personal property includes charges for communications. South Carolina defines charges for communications to include the proceeds accruing from the charges for the ways or means for the transmission of the voice or messages. The South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) takes the position charges ...
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (SCDEW) administers the South Carolina unemployment benefit program for state residents, and which is funded by a state-wide unemployment tax on employee wages. Employers are responsible for the payment of this tax.
SCDEW, and its predecessor agency, the South Carolina Employment Commission Security Commission, have had financial difficulties raising sufficient unemployment taxes to be able to pay unemployment benefits to South Carolina workers. The financial problems became so significant that SCDEW became ...
South Carolina state tax liens were previously recorded each county’s register of deeds, register of mesne conveyance, or clerk of court (i.e. in the same place where real property records are recorded). In March 2019 the South Carolina General Assembly passed a law authorizing the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR or DOR) to implement a statewide system of filing and indexing liens.
SCDOR has now created a statewide lien recording system, which is accessible online. As of November 1, 2019, SCDOR will no longer file tax liens, satisfactions, or expungements with county ...
Spouses who file a joint income tax return are both jointly and severally liable for the taxes associated with the return, both federally and at the state level. If the joint tax liability is not paid, or additional tax is assessed through an audit, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state taxing authority (the South Carolina Department of Revenue in the case of South Carolina) will pursue both spouses in an effort to collect the tax. One spouse may have believed that the other spouse had paid the taxes, or that all income and deductions were properly reported, only to find out a few years ...
With the adoption by Congress of the 2018 Farm Bill, which decriminalized the cultivation and growing of industrial hemp and related products, states now, including South Carolina, have adopted and expanded programs authorizing the growing of industrial hemp and also the processing of products from the plant, most notably CBD oil.
The South Carolina Hemp Farming Act, adopted in March 2019, authorizes state residents to apply with the SC Department of Agriculture (SCDA) to grow and/or process industrial hemp in the state; however, under the present status of the law, only ...
In South Carolina, a maximum or “capped” sales tax of $500 ($300 for sales on or before June 30, 2017) is imposed on the sale of motor vehicles and certain other vehicles. Under the facts of a recent South Carolina Administrative Law Court (ALC) decision, a South Carolina motor sports dealer sold all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and side-by-side vehicles (UTVs) and paid the maximum tax on these sales. The South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) audited the dealer and determined the maximum tax did not apply to these ATV/UTV sales because they were not qualifying motor vehicles in ...
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 ...
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 ...
Anyone who buys tangible personal property from out-of-state and brings it into South Carolina is responsible for paying a use tax of 6% on the sales price of the property, plus any local tax rate addition. Individuals may report purchases subject to use tax on their individual income tax return (SC 1040, Line 26). The Department of Revenue publishes a worksheet, UT-3W, which can be used to determine the purchases subject to use tax and the amount of use tax due. An individual who does not report use tax purchases on his or her income tax return should file Form UT-3, Use Tax Payment Return. ...