Title 12, Taxation

As of December thirty-first a first lien shall attach to all real and personal property for taxes to be paid during the ensuing year, and in case such property is about to be removed from the State by bankruptcy proceedings or otherwise or is about to be taken from the jurisdicti…

The lien for unpaid taxes on personal property shall also attach to any personal property subsequently acquired by the delinquent taxpayer.

All personal property subject to taxation shall be liable to distress and sale for the payment of taxes, in the manner provided in this title, and all real property returned delinquent by the county treasurer upon which the taxes shall not be paid by distress or otherwise shall b…

If any chattel tax shall be unpaid at the time fixed for the payment thereof or returned delinquent, as authorized by this title, the county treasurer may not only distrain property for the payment thereof, but may recover the tax, with the penalties thereon, by action at law, pr…

When any real estate shall be sold under any writ, order or proceeding in any court, the court shall, on motion of any person interested in such real estate or in the purchase or proceeds of the sale thereof, order all taxes, assessments and penalties charged thereon to be paid o…

(A) If the person officially charged with the collection of ad valorem taxes on real or personal property for a county determines that the tax, assessment, or penalty is uncollectible, he shall record that determination and the reason for it on a list he maintains. At least annua…

The courts of this State shall recognize and enforce liabilities for taxation lawfully imposed by other states which extend like comity to this State. The South Carolina Department of Revenue, with the assistance of the Attorney General, is hereby empowered to bring suit in the c…

The tax collector may levy upon and seize the personal property of a defaulting taxpayer by serving personally upon the delinquent taxpayer and the owner of such personal property, if it has been sold or transferred subject to the tax lien, a written notice that the specific pers…

Upon such service being made, the specific personal property of the defaulting taxpayer described in such notice of levy and seizure shall be conclusively deemed and taken to be in the exclusive possession of the tax collector and the sum due on the particular delinquent tax exec…

Any person who shall remove, secrete, destroy or otherwise injure such personal property or molest, disturb or interfere with the tax collector's possession of such personal property shall be held liable as for a conversion and be guilty of disposing of property under a lien.

Unless the amount due on the delinquent tax execution shall be sooner paid, the tax collector shall, after having such personal property so seized under the delinquent tax execution advertised for sale for two weeks in a newspaper printed and circulated in the county, sell such p…

If, on the sale of such personal property, there is no bid for as much as the tax and costs then due on the delinquent tax execution, the personal property must be bid in on behalf of the forfeited land commission of the county for the amount equal to the amount of all unpaid pro…

Upon the payment of the purchase money for such personal property, the tax collector shall deliver possession of it to the successful purchaser.

This article shall not be construed to repeal existing tax laws, but shall be deemed and taken to be an alternative remedy for the enforcement and collection of delinquent taxes.

Upon the real estate being redeemed, the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes shall cancel the sale in the tax sale book and note thereon the amount paid, by whom and when. The successful purchaser, at the delinquent tax sale, shall promptly be notifi…

For personal property, there is no redemption period subsequent to the time that the property is struck off to the successful purchaser at the delinquent tax sale. Upon payment by the successful purchaser and delivery of the duplicate warrant (i.e. tax receipt) with description a…

Neither more than forty-five days nor less than twenty days before the end of the redemption period for real estate sold for taxes, the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes shall mail a notice by "certified mail, return receipt requested-restricted de…

Upon failure of the defaulting taxpayer, a grantee from the owner, a mortgagee, a judgment creditor, or a lessee of the property to redeem realty within the time period allowed for redemption, the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes, within thirty da…

If a warrant, which has been filed with the clerk of court in any county, is determined by the Department of Revenue to have been issued and filed in error, the clerk of court, upon notification by the Department of Revenue, must remove the warrant from its book.

The provisions of Sections 12-49-1110 through 12-49-1290, inclusive, relating to notice to mortgagees of proposed tax sales and of tax sales of properties covered by their respective mortgages are adopted as a part of this chapter.

If the official in charge of the tax sale discovers before a tax title has passed that there is a failure of any action required to be properly performed, the official may void the tax sale and refund the amount paid, plus interest in the amount actually earned by the county on t…

In all cases of tax sale the deed of conveyance, whether executed to a private person, a corporation, or a forfeited land commission, is prima facie evidence of a good title in the holder, that all proceedings have been regular and that all legal requirements have been complied w…

A county and municipality may contract for the collection of municipal taxes by the county. When by contract a tax due a municipality is to be collected by the county, the provisions of this chapter are exercisable by the county official charged with the collection of the delinqu…

After the county treasurer issues his execution against a defaulting taxpayer in his jurisdiction, as provided in Section 12-45-180, signed by him or his agent in his official capacity, directed to the officer authorized to collect delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties, and co…

The property duly advertised must be sold, by the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes, at public auction at the courthouse or other convenient place within the county, if designated and advertised, on the advertised date for legal tender payable in f…

The officer charged with the duty to sell real property and mobile or manufactured housing for nonpayment of ad valorem property taxes shall submit a bid on behalf of the forfeited land commission equal to the amount of all unpaid property taxes, penalties, assessments including,…

The successful bidder at the delinquent tax sale shall pay legal tender as provided in Section 12-51-50 to the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes in the full amount of the bid on the day of the sale. Upon payment, the person officially charged with …

If the successful bidder fails to remit in legal tender within the time specified, the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes shall cancel that bid and duly readvertise the same property for sale, in the same manner, on a subsequent delinquent tax sale …

The treasurer shall make full settlement of tax sale monies, within forty-five days after the sale, to the respective political subdivisions for which the taxes were levied. Proceeds of the sales in excess thereof must be retained by the treasurer as otherwise provided by law.

(A) The defaulting taxpayer, any grantee from the owner, or any mortgage or judgment creditor may within twelve months from the date of the delinquent tax sale redeem each item of real estate by paying to the person officially charged with the collection of delinquent taxes, asse…

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 12-51-110, the owner or lienholder of any mobile home or manufactured home may redeem the property as provided in Sections 12-51-90, 12-51-100, and 12-51-120. For purposes of this chapter, "mobile or manufactured home" is defined in Secti…

In order for the owner of or lienholder on the "mobile home" or "manufactured home" to redeem his property as permitted in Section 12-51-95, the mobile or manufactured home subject to redemption must not be removed from its location at the time of the delinquent tax sale for a pe…

All the powers and duties now imposed or conferred by law upon sheriffs or tax collectors of any county in this State with respect to the collection of any amounts due the State Department of Revenue, are hereby imposed or conferred upon the department, or its duly authorized rep…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department, or its duly authorized representatives, may attach, levy upon, or seize bank deposits and all other choses in action, except for salaries and wages, on property incapable of manual levy or delivery, hereinafter called in…

The department, or its duly authorized representative, where personal property is levied upon and seized in order to enforce payment of amounts due the department, including costs, shall take such steps as may be necessary to protect and preserve the property so seized. The sheri…

Notwithstanding another provision of law, there is added as costs to each warrant or tax execution collected, served, or recorded by a duly authorized representative of the department an amount equivalent to five percent of the total of the warrant or tax execution or the sum of …

When filing documents relating to the enforced collection of taxes due this State with county clerks of court and registers of deeds, the department shall file those documents electronically if the clerk of court or register of deeds accepts electronic filings.

The department shall, after deducting the costs and expenses above referred to, remit to the clerk of court of the county the amount of prior liens or claims, if any, against the property seized and sold. Such remittance shall be made by appropriate voucher by the State Treasurer…

The provisions of this article shall be complementary to and in addition to any other provision of law.

The word "person" or "taxpayer", for the purpose of this chapter, unless otherwise required by the text, includes any individual, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, corporation, receiver, trustee, fiduciary, or any other group or combination acting as a un…

(A) In the administration of a state tax law, the director or his duly authorized agent, for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of a return or making a determination of or fixing tax liability, may examine or investigate the place of business, tangible personal property,…

(A) The department may summon: (1) a person who: (a) is required to make a return or obtain a license pursuant to the provisions of law administered by the department and who fails to do so at the time required; (b) delivers a return that the department considers erroneous; or (c…

(A)(1) If a person liable to pay a tax neglects or refuses to pay it after demand, the amount of the tax, including interest, additional tax, addition to tax, or assessable penalty, plus accrued costs, is a lien in favor of the Department of Revenue on all property and rights to …

(A) For purposes of this section, the term: (1) "Security interest" means any interest in property acquired by contract for the purpose of securing payment or performance of an obligation or indemnifying against loss or liability. A security interest exists if the property is in …

A person in possession of property upon which a levy has been made who, upon demand by the department, surrenders the property to the department must not be held personally liable for any obligation or liability to the taxpayer and any other person with respect to the property th…

In the case of the transfer of a majority of the assets of a business, other than cash, whether through sale, gift, devise, inheritance, liquidation, distribution, merger, consolidation, corporate reorganization, lease or otherwise, any tax generated by the business which was due…