2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 12 - Taxation
CHAPTER 37 - ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES
Section 12-37-2890. Suspension of driver's license for failure to pay motor carrier property tax; penalty for driving with suspended license; reinstatement.
Section omitted by 2017 Act No. 40, Section 8.A, effective January 1, 2019.
(A) Upon request by the Department of Revenue, and after the time period for all appeals of tax due is exhausted, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall suspend the driver's license and vehicle registration of a person that fails to file or pay a motor carrier property tax on a vehicle, pursuant to this article. The request to suspend must be an electronic notification from the Department of Revenue to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Before notification is sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Revenue shall notify the delinquent taxpayer by certified letter of the pending suspension and of the steps necessary to prevent the suspension from being entered on the taxpayer's driving and registration records. The department shall allow thirty days for payment of taxes before notifying the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the driver's license and vehicle registration.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 56-1-460 and 56-9-500, a charge of driving under suspension when the suspension is solely for failure to file or pay a motor carrier property tax or the reinstatement fee required for the property tax does not require proof of financial responsibility. A person is not subject to a custodial arrest solely for being under suspension pursuant to this section. Upon conviction of a violation of this section, the taxpayer is subject to:
(1) for a first offense a fine not to exceed fifty dollars;
(2) for a second offense a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars; and
(3) for a third or subsequent offense under this section, the penalty is a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars or imprisonment not to exceed thirty days, or both.
(C) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (A) and (B) of this section or the provisions of Section 56-1-460, a charge of driving under suspension issued solely as a result of this section must be dismissed if the taxpayer provides proof on the taxpayer's court date that the personal property taxes on the vehicle which resulted in the charge being issued have been paid.
(D) Before the reinstatement of a driver's license or vehicle registration suspended due to a violation of this section, a fee of fifty dollars must be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Department of Motor Vehicles may retain revenues generated by payment of the reinstatement fees pursuant to this section for use in defraying costs associated with suspension and reinstatement actions pursuant to this section. Fees collected in excess of actual departmental direct costs related to suspension and reinstatement actions pursuant to this section must be deposited to the credit of the general fund of the State at the end of each fiscal year.
HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 161, Section 24, eff June 9, 2005; 2006 Act No. 386, Section 25, eff June 14, 2006.
Editor's Note
2017 Act No. 40, Sections 8.L, 8.M, provide as follows:
"L. (1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary within this SECTION, a person who registers a vehicle for use in this State pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12, as amended by this act, must register his vehicle during calendar year 2019 and is required to pay the road fees calculated based on the fair market value of the vehicle as specified in Sections 12-37-2820 and 12-37-2850 at the time the vehicle's registration fees are paid.
"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 12-37-2865(B) and (C), as contained in this SECTION, to the contrary, during calendar year 2019, the first four hundred thousand dollars of fee revenue collected pursuant to Section 12-37-2865 must be retained by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray programming costs.
"(3) The initial millage required by Section 12-37-2850 must be calculated on or before June 1, 2018.
"M. This SECTION takes effect January 1, 2019, except that the Department of Revenue, in consultation with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, shall calculate the millage to be used to calculate the road use fee provided in Section 12-37-2850 by July 1, 2018."
