2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 12 - Taxation
Chapter 6 - SOUTH CAROLINA INCOME TAX ACT
Section 12-6-3375 - Tax credit for port cargo volume increase; application to council; definitions.

(A)(1) A taxpayer engaged in manufacturing, warehousing, or distribution which uses port facilities in this State and which increases its port cargo volume at these facilities by a minimum of five percent in a single calendar year over its base year port cargo volume is eligible to claim an income tax credit or a credit against employee withholding in the amount determined by the Coordinating Council for Economic Development (council).

(2) The maximum amount of tax credits allowed to all qualifying taxpayers pursuant to this section may not exceed eight million dollars for each calendar year and credits against employee withholdings may not exceed four million dollars out of eight million dollars. The council has sole discretion in allocating the credits provided by this section on a priority basis or such other basis as the board deems appropriate, taking into consideration the following factors:

(a) the amount of base year port cargo volume;

(b) the total and percentage increase in port cargo volume;

(c) the number of qualifying taxpayers;

(d) the type of cargo transported; and

(e) other factors related to the economic benefit of the State, as determined by the council.

(3) If the credit exceeds the taxpayer's tax liability for the taxable year, the excess amount may be carried forward and claimed against income taxes in the next five succeeding taxable years.

(4) The credit may be claimed by the taxpayer as provided in subsection (A)(1) only if the taxpayer owns the cargo at the time the port facilities are used.

(B)(1) For every year in which a taxpayer claims the credit, the taxpayer shall submit an application to the council after the calendar year in which the increase in port cargo volume occurs. The council may make allocations of the credit on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. The taxpayer shall attach a schedule to the taxpayer's application to the council with the following information and information requested by the council or the department:

(a) a description of how the base year port cargo volume and the increase in port cargo volume was determined;

(b) the amount of the base year port cargo volume;

(c) the amount of the increase in port cargo volume for the taxable year stated both as a percentage increase and as a total increase in net tons of noncontainerized cargo and TEUs of cargo, including information which demonstrates an increase in port cargo volume in excess of the minimum amount required to claim the tax credits pursuant to this section;

(d) any tax credit utilized by the taxpayer in prior years; and

(e) the amount of tax credit carried over from prior years.

(2) To receive the credit the taxpayer shall claim the credit on its income tax or withholding return in a manner prescribed by the department. The department may require a copy of the certification form issued by the council be attached to the return or otherwise provided.

(C) As used in this section:

(1) "TEU" means a "twenty-foot equivalent unit"; a volumetric measure based on the size of a container twenty feet long by eight feet wide by eight feet, six inches high.

(2) "Base year port cargo volume" initially means the total amount of net tons of noncontainerized cargo or TEUs of cargo actually transported by way of a waterborne ship through a port facility during the period from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2009. Base year port cargo volume must be at least seventy-five net tons of noncontainerized cargo or ten TEUs for a taxpayer to be eligible for the credits provided in this section. For a taxpayer that does not ship that amount in the year ending December 31, 2009, including a taxpayer who locates in South Carolina after December 31, 2009, its base cargo volume will be measured by the initial January first through December thirty-first calendar year in which it meets the requirements of seventy-five net tons of noncontainerized cargo or ten loaded TEUs. Base year port cargo volume must be recalculated each calendar year after the initial base year.

(3) "Port facility" means any publicly or privately owned facility located within this State through which cargo is transported by way of a waterborne ship or vehicle to or from destinations outside this State and which handles cargo owned by third parties in addition to cargo owned by the port facility's owner.

(4) "Port cargo volume" means the total amount of net tons of noncontainerized cargo or containers measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo transported by way of a waterborne ship or vehicle through a port facility.

(D) The council may annually award up to one million dollars of the eight million dollars of credits to a new warehouse or distribution facility which commits to expending at least forty million dollars at a single site and creating one hundred new full-time jobs, and the base year cargo provisions contained in this section do not apply. The council may make the award in the year the facility is announced provided that it may not tender the certificate until it has received satisfactory proof that the capital investment and job creation requirements have, or will be, satisfied. Any credit certificate expires three years after issuance if satisfactory proof has not been received.

(E) Notwithstanding Section 12-54-240, the department and the Department of Commerce may exchange information submitted by a taxpayer pursuant to this section.

HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 124, Section 1, eff June 3, 2005; 2006 Act No. 384, Section 6, eff June 14, 2006; 2006 Act No. 386, Section 10.A, eff June 14, 2006 applicable to tax years beginning after December 31, 2004; 2010 Act No. 290, Section 17, eff January 1, 2011.