2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 12 - Taxation
Chapter 37 - ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES
Section 12-37-930 - Valuation of property; depreciation allowances for manufacturer's machinery and equipment; department may permit adjustment in allowance.

All property must be valued for taxation at its true value in money which in all cases is the price which the property would bring following reasonable exposure to the market, where both the seller and the buyer are willing, are not acting under compulsion, and are reasonably well informed of the uses and purposes for which it is adapted and for which it is capable of being used. The fair market value for vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft must be based on values derived from a nationally recognized publication of vehicle valuations, except that the value may not exceed ninety-five percent of the prior year's value. However, acreage allotments or marketing quota allotments for a commodity established under a program of the United States Department of Agriculture is classified as incorporeal hereditaments and the market value of real property to which they are attached may not include the value, if any, of the acreage allotment or marketing quota. Fair market value of manufacturer's machinery and equipment used in the conduct of the manufacturing business, excluding vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft required to be registered or licensed by a state or federal agency, must be determined by reducing the original cost by an annual allowance for depreciation as stated in the following schedule.

SCHEDULE

1. Aerospace Industry .................................................... 15%

Includes the manufacture of aircraft, spacecraft, rockets, missiles and

component parts.

2. Apparel and Fabricated Textile Products ............................... 14%

Includes the manufacture of apparel, for garments, and fabricated textile

products except knitwear, knit products and rubber and leather apparel.

3. Cement Manufacture ..................................................... 6%

Includes the manufacture of cement.

Excludes the manufacture of concrete and concrete products.

4. Chemicals and Allied Products ......................................... 11%

Includes the manufacture of basic chemicals such as acids, alkalis, salts,

and organic and inorganic chemicals; chemical products to be used in

further manufacture, such as synthetic fibers and plastics materials; and

finished chemical products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, soaps,

fertilizers, paints and varnishes, explosives, and compressed and

liquefied gases.

Excludes the manufacture of finished rubber and plastic products.

5. Cold Storage and Icemaking Equipment ................................... 6%

6. Electrical Equipment

(a) Electrical Equipment ............................................. 11%

Includes the manufacture of electric household appliances, electronic

equipment, batteries, ignition systems, and machinery used in the

generation and utilization of electrical energy.

(b) Electronic Equipment ............................................. 15%

Includes the manufacture of electronic communication, detection,

guidance, control, radiation, computation, test and navigation

equipment and components thereof.

Excludes manufacturers engaged only in the purchase and assembly of

components.

(c) Electronic Interconnection Component Assembly Devices for

Computers and Computer Peripherals; semiconductors and

semiconductor devices; substrates; flat panel displays; and

liquid crystal displays ........................................ 30%

Includes the manufacture of interconnection component assemblies and

devices, semiconductors and semiconductor devices, flat panel

displays, and liquid crystal displays which are incorporated in

computers or computer peripherals, or other electronic control

applications, and telecommunications devices. Computer peripherals

include tape drives, compact disk read-only memory systems, hard

disks, drivers, tape streamers, monitors, printers, routers,

servers, and power supplies.

7. Fabricated Metal Products ............................................. 11%

Includes the manufacture of fabricated metal products such as cans,

tinware, hardware, metal structural products, stampings and a variety of

metal and wire products.

8. Food and Kindred Products Except Grain and Grain Mill Products, Sugar

and Sugar Products, and Vegetable Oil Products ...................... 11%

Includes the manufacture of foods and beverages, such as meat and dairy

products; baked goods; canned, frozen and preserved products;

confectionery and related products; and soft drinks and alcoholic

beverages. Excludes the manufacture of grain and grain mill products,

sugar and sugar products, and vegetable oils and vegetable oil products.

9. Glass and Glass Products ............................................... 9%

Includes the manufacture of flat, blown, or pressed glass products, such as

plate, safety and window glass, glass containers, glassware and

fiberglass.

10. Grain and Grain Mill Products 7% Includes the manufacture of blended and

prepared flours, cereals, feeds and other grain and grain mill products.

11. Knitwear and Knit Products ............................................ 17%

Includes the manufacture of knitwear and knit products.

12. Leather and Leather Products .......................................... 11%

Includes the manufacture of finished leather products, the tanning,

currying and finishing of hides and skins, and the processing of fur

pelts.

13. Logging and Sawmilling Includes the cutting of timber and the sawing of

dimensional stock from logs.

(a) Logging .......................................................... 20%

Includes logging machinery and equipment and road building equipment

used by logging and sawmill operators on their own account.

(b) Sawmills ......................................................... 12%

Includes permanent or well-established sawmills.

(c) Portable Sawmills ................................................ 20%

Includes sawmills characterized by temporary foundations, and a lack

or minimum amount of lumber-handling; drying, and residue-disposal

equipment and facilities.

14. Lumber, Wood Products, and Furniture .................................. 12%

Includes the manufacture of lumber, plywood, veneers, furniture, flooring

and other wood products.

Excludes logging and sawmilling and the manufacture of pulp and paper.

15. Machinery Except Electrical Machinery, Metalworking Machinery, and

Transportation Equipment ............................................ 11%

Includes the manufacture of machinery such as engines and turbines; farm

machinery; construction and mining machinery; food products machinery;

textile machinery; wood-working machinery; paper industries machinery;

compressors; pumps; ball and roller bearings; blowers; industrial

patterns; process furnaces and ovens; office machines; and service

industry machines and equipment.

Excludes the manufacture of electrical machinery, metalworking machinery,

and transportation equipment.

16. Metalworking Machinery ................................................ 11%

Includes the manufacture of metal cutting and forming machines and

associated jigs, dyes, fixtures and accessories.

17. Mining ................................................................ 12%

Includes the mining and quarrying of metallic and nonmetallic minerals and

the milling, beneficiation and other primary preparation of such

materials.

Excludes the extraction and refining of petroleum and natural gas and the

smelting and refining of other minerals.

18. Motor Vehicles and Parts .............................................. 11%

Includes the manufacture of automobiles, trucks and buses and their

component parts.

Excludes the manufacture of glass, tires and stampings.

19. Paper and Allied Products

(a) Pulp and Paper ................................................... 10%

Includes the manufacture of pulp from wood, rags, and other fibers and

the manufacture of paper and paperboard from pulp.

Excludes paper finishing and conversion into cartons, bags, envelopes,

and similar products.

(b) Paper Finishing and Converting ................................... 11%

Includes paper finishing and conversion into cartons, bags, envelopes

and similar products.

20. Petroleum and Natural Gas

(a) Drilling, Geophysical and Field Services ......................... 20%

Includes the drilling of oil and gas wells on a contract, fee or other

basis and the provisions of geophysical and other exploration

services. Includes oil and gas field services, such as chemically

treating, plugging and abandoning wells and cementing or perforating

well casings.

Excludes integrated petroleum and natural gas producers which perform

these services for their own account.

(b) Exploration, Drilling and Production .............................. 9%

Includes the exploration, drilling, maintenance and production

activities of petroleum and natural gas producers. Includes

gathering pipelines and related storage facilities of such

producers. Excludes gathering pipelines and related storage

facilities of pipeline companies.

(c) Petroleum Refining ................................................ 8%

Includes the distillation, fractionation, and catalytic cracking of

crude petroleum into gasoline and its other components.

(d) Marketing ......................................................... 8%

Includes the marketing of petroleum and petroleum products. Includes

related storage facilities and complete service stations. Excludes

petroleum and natural gas trunk pipelines and related storage

facilities.

Excludes natural gas distribution facilities.

21. Plastics Products ..................................................... 11%

Includes the manufacture of processed, fabricated and finished plastics

products.

Excludes the manufacture of basic plastics materials.

22. Primary Metals

Includes the smelting, reducing, refining and alloying of ferrous and

nonferrous metals from ore, pig or scrap and the manufacture of castings,

forgings and other basic ferrous and nonferrous metals products.

(a) Ferrous Metals .................................................... 8%

(b) Nonferrous Metals ................................................. 9%

23. Printing and Publishing ............................................... 11%

Includes printing, publishing, lithographing and printing services such as

bookbinding, typesetting, photoengraving, and electrotyping.

24. Professional, Scientific, and Controlling Instruments: Photographic and

Optical Equipment; Watches and Clocks ............................... 11%

Includes the manufacture of mechanical measuring, engineering, laboratory

and scientific research instruments; optical instruments and lenses;

surgical, medical and dental instruments and equipment, ophthalmic

equipment; photographic equipment; and watches and clocks.

25. Railroad Transportation Equipment ..................................... 11%

Includes the building and rebuilding of railroad locomotives, railroad

cars, and street cars.

26. Rubber Products ....................................................... 15%

Includes the manufacture of finished rubber products and the recapping,

retreading and rebuilding of tires.

27. Ship and Boat Building ................................................ 11%

Includes the building, repairing and conversion of ships and boats.

28. Stone and Clay Products Except Cement .................................. 8%

Includes the manufacture of structural clay products such as brick, tile

and pipe; pottery and related products, such as vitreous-china, plumbing

fixtures, earthenware and ceramic insulating materials; concrete; asphalt

building materials; concrete, gypsum and plaster products; cut and

finished stone; and abrasive, asbestos and miscellaneous nonmetallic

mineral products.

Excludes the manufacture of cement.

29. Sugar and Sugar Products ............................................... 7%

Includes the manufacture of raw sugar, syrup or finished sugar from sugar

cane or sugar beets.

30. Textile Mill Products Except Knitwear

(a) Textile Mill Products, Excluding Finishing and Dyeing ............ 11%

Includes the manufacture of spun, woven or processed yarns and fabrics

from natural or synthetic fibers.

Excludes finishing and dyeing.

(b) Finishing and Dyeing ............................................. 14%

Includes textile finishing and dyeing.

31. Tobacco and Tobacco Products ........................................... 8%

32. Vegetable Oil Products ................................................. 7%

Includes the manufacture of vegetable oils and vegetable oil products.

33. Other Manufacturing ................................................... 11%

Includes the manufacture of products not covered by other guideline

classes, such as the manufacture of fountain pens and jewelry.

Furniture & Office Equipment of Manufacturers ....................... 10%

34. Use of Clean Rooms .................................................... 15%

A manufacturer who uses a Class 100 or better clean room, as that term is

defined in Federal Standard 209E, in manufacturing its product may elect

an annual allowance for depreciation for property tax purposes of fifteen

percent on clean room modules and associated mechanical systems, and on

process piping, wiring environmental systems, and water purification

systems associated with the clean room instead of a depreciation

allowance for which the manufacturer otherwise is entitled. Included are

waffle flooring, wall and ceiling panels, foundation improvements that

isolate the clean room to control vibrations, clean air handling and

filtration systems, piping systems for fluids and gases used in the

manufacturing process and in the clean room that touch the product during

the process, flat panel displays, and liquid crystal displays, process

equipment energy control systems, ultra pure water processing and

wastewater recycling systems, and safety alarm and monitoring systems.

35. Life sciences ......................................................... 20%

Includes machinery and equipment used directly in the manufacturing process

by a life sciences facility. For purposes of this item, life sciences

facility means a business engaged in pharmaceutical, medicine, and

related laboratory instrument manufacturing, processing, or research and

development that invests a minimum of one hundred million dollars in the

project, as defined in Section 12-10-30(8), and creates at least two

hundred new full-time jobs at the project with an average cash

compensation level of at least one hundred and fifty percent of the

annual per capita income in this State or the county in which the

facility is located, whichever is less. Per capita income must be

determined using the most recent per capita income data available as of

the end of the taxable year in which the jobs are filled. Included in

this definition are the following North American Industrial

Classification Systems, NAICS Codes published by the Office of Management

and Budget of the federal government:

(i) 3254 Pharmaceutical and Medical Manufacturing;

(ii) 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing.

In no event may the original cost be reduced by more than as provided in Section 12-37-935, except this limit is ninety percent for (1) custom molds and dies used in the conduct of manufacturing electronic interconnection component assembly devices for computers and computer peripherals; and (2) equipment used in the manufacture of tires by manufacturers who employ more than five thousand employees in this State and have over one billion dollars in capital investment in this State. Capital investment will be based upon the gross cost of assets in South Carolina as shown on the manufacturer's property tax and fee-in-lieu of property tax filings. In the year of acquisition, depreciation is allowed as if the property were owned for the full year. The term "original cost" means gross capitalized cost, including property on which the taxpayer made the election allowed pursuant to Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as shown by the taxpayer's records for income tax purposes. For purposes of this paragraph, custom molds and dies used in the conduct of manufacturing electronic interconnection component assembly devices for computers and computer peripherals are molds and dies designed, produced, and conditioned to the special order of a manufacturer.

Notwithstanding the percentage allowance stated in the schedule above, the department, after examination of the relevant facts, may permit an adjustment in the percentage allowance, with the total allowance not to exceed twenty-five percent, on account of extraordinary obsolescence. The department may set forth a depreciation allowance, instead of the depreciation allowance provided in this section, not to exceed twenty-five percent where the taxpayer can provide relevant data concerning a useful life of the machinery and equipment which is different from the period shown in this section.

35. Life sciences and renewable energy manufacturing......20%

Includes machinery and equipment used directly in the manufacturing process by a life sciences or renewable energy manufacturing facility. For purposes of this item, a qualifying facility means a business engaged in pharmaceutical, medicine, and related laboratory instrument manufacturing, processing, or research and development, or that manufactures qualifying machinery and equipment for use by solar and wind turbine energy producers, as well as manufacturers of qualifying batteries for alternative energy motor vehicles, that invests a minimum of one hundred million dollars in the project, as defined in Section 12-10-30(8), and creates at least two hundred new full-time jobs at the project with an average cash compensation level of at least one hundred fifty percent of the annual per capita income in this State or the county in which the facility is located, whichever is less. Per capita income must be determined using the most recent per capita income data available as of the end of the taxable year in which the jobs are filled. Included in this definition are the following North American Industrial Classification Systems, NAICS Codes published by the Office of Management and Budget of the federal government:

(i) 3254 Pharmaceutical and Medical Manufacturing;

(ii) 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 65-1648; 1952 Code Section 65-1648; 1942 Code Section 2696; 1932 Code Section 2696; Civ. C. '22 Section 431; Civ. C. '12 Section 379; Civ. C. '02 Section 337; G. S. 219; R. S. 270; 1881 (17) 1006; 1926 (34) 981; 1964 (53) 2395; 1967 (55) 933; 1972 (57) 2467; 1975 (59) 248; 1977 Act No. 38; 1979 Act No. 116 Section 1; 1981 Act No. 62 Section 1; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 81; 1994 Act No. 516, Section 31; 1995 Act No. 32, Sections 6A and B; 1995 Act No. 69, Section 2A; 1996 Act No. 231, Sections 12A and B; 1996 Act No. 431, Section 22; 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, Section 8B; 1999 Act No. 93, Section 15(C), (D); 2000 Act No. 399, Section 3(Q)(2), eff August 17, 2000; 2004 Act No. 187, Section 2.A, eff March 17, 2004; 2010 Act No. 290, Section 28, eff June 23, 2010.