2013 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 12 - Taxation
CHAPTER 6 - SOUTH CAROLINA INCOME TAX ACT
SECTION 12-6-3588. South Carolina Renewable Energy Tax Incentive Program; definitions; requirements to receive tax credit.

(A) The General Assembly has determined to enact the "South Carolina Renewable Energy Tax Incentive Program" as contained in this section to encourage business investment that will produce high quality employment opportunities and enhance this State's position as a center for production and use of renewable energy products. The program accomplishes this goal by providing tax incentives to companies in the solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energy industries who are expanding or locating in South Carolina.

(B) As used in this section:

(1) "Capital investment" means an expenditure to acquire, lease, or improve property that is used in operating a business, including land, buildings, machinery, and fixtures.

(2) "Manufacturing" means fabricating, producing, or manufacturing raw or unprepared materials into usable products, imparting new forms, qualities, properties, and combinations. Manufacturing does not include generating electricity for off-site consumption.

(3) "Qualifying investment" means investment in land, buildings, machinery, and fixtures for expansion of an existing facility or establishment of a new facility in this State. Qualifying investment does not include relocating an existing facility in this State to another location in this State without additional capital investment.

(4) "Renewable energy operations" are limited to manufacturers of systems and components that are used or useful in manufacturing renewable energy equipment for the generation, storage, testing and research and development, and transmission or distribution of electricity from renewable sources, including specialized packaging for the renewable energy equipment manufactured at the facility.

(C) A business or corporation meeting the requirements of this section beginning in 2010 is eligible to receive a ten percent nonrefundable income tax credit of the cost of the company's total qualifying investments in plant and equipment in this State for renewable energy operations.

(D) The business or corporation must:

(1) manufacture renewable energy systems and components in South Carolina for solar, wind, geothermal, or other renewable energy uses in order to be eligible for the tax credit authorized by this section;

(2) invest at least five hundred million dollars in the year the tax credit is claimed in new qualifying plant and equipment; and

(3) have created one and one-half full-time jobs for every five hundred thousand dollars of capital investment qualifying for the credit that each pays at least one hundred twenty-five percent of this State's average annual median wage as defined by the Department of Commerce.

(E) The income tax credit program is for a five-year period beginning January 1, 2010, and ending December 31, 2015.

(F) A taxpayer may separately qualify for new facilities in separate locations or for separate expansions of existing facilities located in this State.

(G) A taxpayer's total credit for all expenditures allowed pursuant to this section must not exceed five hundred thousand dollars for any year and five million dollars total for all years. Unused credits may be carried forward for fifteen years after the tax year in which a qualified expenditure was made. The credit is nonrefundable.

(H) Expenditures qualifying for a tax credit allowed by this section must be certified by the State Energy Office. The State Energy Office may consult with appropriate state and federal officials on standards for certification.

(I) To obtain the amount of the credit available to a taxpayer, each taxpayer must submit a request for the credit to the State Energy Office by January thirty-first for qualifying expenses incurred in the previous calendar year and the State Energy Office must notify the taxpayer that the submitted expenditures qualify for the credit and the amount of credit allocated to such taxpayer by March first of that year. A taxpayer may claim the maximum amount of the credit for its taxable year which contains the December thirty-first of the previous calendar year. The Department of Commerce must certify to the State Energy Office that the taxpayer has met the job creation requirements of subsection (D).

(J) The credits authorized by this section are in lieu of any other applicable income tax credits or abatements allowed by state law, and in the event of an overlap or conflict in available credits or abatements to a taxpayer, the taxpayer must select the credit or abatement he desires in the manner prescribed by the Department of Revenue to the extent the credits or abatements conflict or overlap.

HISTORY: 2010 Act No. 290, Section 23, eff January 1, 2011.