Title 12, Taxation

A county may extend the date for filing returns and the payment of property taxes for persons serving with the United States Armed Forces or National Guard in or near a hazard duty zone.

(A) A county auditor may appoint an employee in his office to be his deputy. The appointment must be filed with the State Treasurer and the governing body of that county. When the appointment is filed, the deputy may act for and on behalf of the county auditor when the auditor is…

Each county auditor is authorized to administer all oaths required to be taken by anyone in the assessment and return of property for taxation or in the performance of any duty enjoined upon county auditors by law.

The county auditor shall receive the returns and make the assessments provided for in this chapter within the time prescribed by law and for this purpose his office must be kept open to receive the returns of taxpayers from January first to April thirtieth of each year, except as…

For the purpose of appraising and assessing personal property of businesses and other entities under the jurisdiction of the county auditor, the county auditor must use the department's Form PT-100 and shall follow the classification of the most recent North American Industry Cla…

(A) All property must be assessed uniformly and equitably throughout the State. The South Carolina Department of Revenue may promulgate regulations to ensure equalization which must be adhered to by all assessing officials in the State. (B) No reassessment program may be implemen…

When owner-occupied residential property assessed pursuant to Section 12-43-220(c) is valued for purposes of ad valorem taxation, the value of the land must be determined on the basis that its highest and best use is for residential purposes. When a property owner or an agent for…

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, once every fifth year each county or the State shall appraise and equalize those properties under its jurisdiction. Property valuation must be complete at the end of December of the fourth year and the county or State shall notify e…

Except as otherwise provided, the ratio of assessment to value of property in each class shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. All property presently subject to ad valorem taxation shall be classified and assessed as follows: (a)(1) All real and personal property owned…

Property in which the occupant has an interest pursuant to an installment contract for sale with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or its assignee, is eligible for the assessment ratio provided in Section 12-43-220(c) and the exemptions provided in Sections 12-37-…

(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 12-43-220(d)(4), the property tax value, as defined in Section 12-37-3135, of that portion of a parcel of real property changed from agricultural use for purposes of residential or commercial development that is designated on the reco…

Notwithstanding the requirement that real property is required by law to be appraised at fair market value for ad valorem tax purposes, when undeveloped acreage is surveyed into subdivision lots and the conditional or final plat is recorded with the appropriate county official, t…

(A) For subdivision lots in a plat recorded on or after January 1, 2001, a subdivision lot discount is allowed in the valuation of the platted lots only as provided in subsection (B) of this section, and this discounted value applies for five property tax years or until the lot i…

The fair market value of homeowners' association property, as defined in Section 12-43-230, for ad valorem tax purposes is defined as the nonqualified earnings value to be determined by the capitalization of the property's nonqualified gross receipts. For purposes of this section…

(a) For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise required by the context, the words "agricultural real property" shall mean any tract of real property which is used to raise, harvest or store crops, feed, breed or manage livestock, or to produce plants, trees, fowl or anima…

In addition to all other requirements for real property to be classified as agricultural real property, the property must meet the following requirements: (1)(a) If the tract is used to grow timber, the tract must be five acres or more. Tracts of timberland of less than five acre…

(A) In addition to and incidental to the uses required for real property to be classified as agricultural real property pursuant to Sections 12-43-220(d), 12-43-230(a), and 12-43-232, and applicable regulations, uses of tracts of agricultural real property for "agritourism" purpo…

All counties shall require by law or ordinance that building permits be issued to persons engaging in new construction or renovation and such permits shall correspond to minimum requirements of the department. The county shall furnish a copy of the building permit to the assessor…

The department shall make sales ratio studies in all counties of the State and when, in the judgment of the department, a county needs to reassess or remap property, the department shall make application to the circuit court in which the county is located for a determination of w…

Any county which wilfully fails to comply with the provisions of this article shall not be entitled to twenty percent of the allocation of the taxes as provided for in the General Appropriations Act for State Aid to Subdivisions. The department shall make application to the circu…

(A) The governing body of a political subdivision on whose behalf a property tax is billed by the county auditor shall certify in writing to the county auditor that the millage rate levied is in compliance with laws limiting the millage rate imposed by that political subdivision.…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no additional millage shall be levied as an inflation factor under the provisions of any equalization or reassessment program pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

In accordance with Section 7(b), Article X, of the Constitution of this State, political subdivisions, including school districts, of this State shall prepare and maintain annual budgets which provide for sufficient income to meet estimated expenses for each fiscal year. Notwiths…

The governing body of the county may by ordinance extend the time for filing an objection to the valuation and assessment of real property resulting from reassessment within a county. The Department of Revenue shall prescribe a standard reassessment form designed to contain the i…

In those counties which have a nondevelopment contract, those contracts which have been executed as of June 3, 1975 shall be valid for the period for which they were executed.

Any or all rules and regulations promulgated by the South Carolina Department of Revenue for the implementation of the provisions of Act 208 of 1975 [Sections 12-37-90 to 12-37-110, 12-39-340, 12-39-350, 12-43-210 to 12-43-310, 12-37-970] may be declared null and void by passage …

Property exempted from ad valorem taxation by Section 12-37-220 is also exempt from assessment.

(A) For the purpose of assessing property of merchants and related businesses, as provided by Section 12-37-970, the department shall follow the classifications of the most recent North American Classification System Manual, as follows: (1) Sector 23; (2) Sector 48, except subsec…

It is unlawful for a person knowingly and wilfully to make a false statement on the application required pursuant to Section 12-43-220(d)(3) to a county assessor for the classification of property as agricultural real property or for the special assessment ratio for certain agric…

Affected political subdivisions must use a tax bill for real property that contains standard information as follows: (1) tax year; (2) tax map number; (3) property location; (4) appraised value, taxable; (5) tax amount; (6) state homestead tax exemption pursuant to Section 12-37-…

The governing body of a county by ordinance may reduce the assessment ratio otherwise applicable in determining the assessed value of general aviation aircraft subject to property tax in the county to a ratio not less than four percent of the fair market value of the general avia…

(A) The value of tangible personal property and intangible personal property and any income or expense derived from such property, whether directly or indirectly, must not be included in the determination of fair market value of golf course real property for ad valorem tax purpos…

(A) A county may allow a taxpayer to elect to receive his property tax bill and receipt in electronic form, and if the taxpayer makes the election, the county shall email the property tax bill and receipt each year unless the taxpayer elects to no longer obtain his bill and recei…

This act may be cited as the "Fee in Lieu of Tax Simplification Act".

(A) A fee agreement may provide that a sponsor who has committed to an enhanced investment or an investment above that required for a minimum investment may continue to receive the benefits of this chapter, even if the sponsor fails to make or maintain the required investment or …

Property which previously has been subject to property taxes in South Carolina does not qualify as economic development property, except that: (1) land, excluding existing improvements on the land, on which a new project is to be located may qualify as economic development proper…

(A) An interest in a fee agreement and the economic development property to which the fee agreement relates may be transferred to another entity at any time. Notwithstanding another provision of this chapter, an equity interest in a sponsor may be transferred to another entity or…

(A) Except as otherwise provided in Section 12-44-30(19), to be eligible for the fee, a sponsor and each sponsor affiliate must invest the minimum investment as defined in Section 12-44-30(14). For an enhanced investment pursuant to Section 12-44-30(7), a single sponsor must make…

(A) The county and the sponsor may agree to terminate the fee agreement at any time. From the date of termination, all economic development property is subject to ad valorem taxation as imposed by law. If the sponsor used an alternative payment method, the sponsor shall pay to th…

Projects to which a fee agreement applies pursuant to this section are considered taxable property at the level of the negotiated payments for purposes of bonded indebtedness pursuant to Sections 14 and 15, Article X of the Constitution of this State, and for purposes of computin…

If all or part of this chapter is determined to be unconstitutional or otherwise illegal by a court of competent jurisdiction, a sponsor has one hundred eighty days from the date of the determination to transfer title to economic development property to the county and have it qua…

(A) Economic development property as defined in Section 12-44-30(7) may include property placed in service for property tax purposes after the effective date of this act. (B) An entity with property subject to an existing fee in lieu of property taxes arrangement under Article 1,…

The General Assembly finds that: (1) With the state's economy being centrally connected, as the wealth-generating capacity of South Carolina's businesses has increased, the state's per capita income also has increased. (2) Since South Carolina's property tax rates as applied to m…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Alternative payment method" means fee payments as provided in Section 12-44-50(A)(3). (2) "Commencement date" means the last day of the property tax year during which economic development property is placed in service, except that this date must not …

(A) To obtain the benefits provided by this chapter, the sponsor and the county must enter into a fee agreement requiring the payment of the fee described in Section 12-44-50. The county must adopt an ordinance approving the fee agreement with the sponsor. (B) If the county and t…

(A) A fee agreement must contain the requirement that a fee in lieu of property tax be paid as follows: (1) During the exemption period, the sponsor shall pay, or be responsible for payment, to the county the annual fee payment in connection with the economic development property…