2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 4 - Counties
CHAPTER 10 - LOCAL SALES AND USE TAX
Section 4-10-90. Department of Revenue to administer and collect local sales and use tax; forms; regulations; notice by county that tax has been approved; revenues to be credited to Local Sales and Use Tax Fund; reports to State Treasurer; refunds.

(A) The Department of Revenue shall administer and collect the local sales and use tax in the manner that sales and use taxes are administered and collected pursuant to Chapter 36 of Title 12. The commission may prescribe forms and promulgate regulations in conformity with this chapter, including tables prescribing the amount to be added to the sales price. The county shall notify the Department of Revenue and the State Treasurer through delivery of a certified copy of a resolution adopted by the county by December thirty-first following the referendum for the tax to be imposed May first. Failure to deliver the resolution by December thirty-first causes a delay of the imposition until the first day of May of the next calendar year. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the local sales and use tax must not be imposed before July first following the first referendum held pursuant to Section 4-10-30.

(B) All revenues collected by the Department of Revenue on behalf of a county area pursuant to this chapter must be remitted to the State Treasurer to be credited to a Local Sales and Use Tax Fund which is separate and distinct from the state general fund. After deducting the amount of refunds made and the costs to the Department of Revenue of administering the tax, not to exceed one-half of one percent of the fund or seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is greater, the State Treasurer shall deposit the revenue into the Local Sales and Use Tax Fund which consists of two separate funds: the Property Tax Credit Fund and the County/Municipal Revenue Fund. The revenue collected pursuant to this chapter must be allocated to each fund as follows:

(1) During the first year after the effective date of this act, sixty-three percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-seven percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(2) During the second year after the effective date of this act, sixty-five percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-five percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(3) During the third year after the effective date of this act, sixty-seven percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-three percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(4) During the fourth year after the effective date of this act, sixty-nine percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-one percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(5) During the fifth year after the effective date of this act, and each year thereafter, seventy-one percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and twenty-nine percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund. The allocation of revenue to each fund provided for in this section must remain uniform as to the percentage allocated to each fund regardless of the year in which a county adopts the local sales and use tax. The State Treasurer shall distribute monthly the revenues according to the provisions of this chapter.

(C) The Department of Revenue shall furnish data to the State Treasurer and to the governing bodies of the counties and municipalities receiving revenues for the purpose of calculating distributions and estimating revenues. The information which may be supplied to counties and municipalities includes, but is not limited to, gross receipts, net taxable sales, and tax liability by taxpayers. Information by taxpayer received by appropriate county or municipal officials is considered confidential and is governed by the provisions of Section 12-54-240. A person violating this section is subject to the penalties provided in Section 12-54-240. The State Treasurer may correct misallocations from the Property Tax Credit Fund and County/Municipal Revenue Fund by adjusting subsequent allocations, but these adjustments may be made only in allocations made in the same fiscal year as the misallocation. However, allocations made as a result of city or county code errors must be corrected prospectively.

HISTORY: 1990 Act No. 317, Section 1, eff February 2, 1990; 1991 Act No. 168, Sections 1, 13, eff June 28, 1991; 1993 Act No 181 Section 57, eff July 1, 1993; 1998 Act No. 432, Section 18A, eff for tax years beginning after December 31, 1998.

Code Commissioner's Note

This section, as amended by 1993 Act No. 181, Section 57, contained a reference in subsection (A) to Chapter 35 of Title 12. This reference is incorrect. Chapter 35 of Title 12 was repealed and replaced with a new Chapter 36. At the direction of the Code Commissioner, the reference to Chapter 35 was changed to Chapter 36.

Editor's Note

1990 Act No. 317, Section 3, provides as follows:

"SECTION 3. (A) Of the funds appropriated in Part I of the 1990-91 General Appropriations Act under formula funded Aid to Counties and Municipalities, an amount not to exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars must be allocated to the South Carolina Tax Commission to defray the administrative start-up expenses incurred by the commission in fiscal year 1990-91 for the implementation of the local sales and use tax provided for in Chapter 10 of Title 4 of the 1976 Code and as added in Section 1 of this act. The State Treasurer shall withhold this amount from the income tax distribution with counties and municipalities sharing equally. No funds provided for in this section may be drawn upon by the commission before November, 1990. However, no funds may be drawn unless at least one favorable referendum has been conducted in which the electors of that county have approved the imposition of the tax. If the expenses are not incurred by the commission by May 31, 1991, the funds must be distributed to the counties and municipalities.

"(B) The amount allocated to the commission pursuant to subsection (A) must be reimbursed by the commission from the administrative expense provided to the commission in Section 4-10-90(B) of the 1976 Code, as added in Section 1 of this act."

Act No. 458, Part II, Section 88 of 1996 provides that whenever the term "Department of Revenue and Taxation" appears in the Acts and Joint Resolutions of the General Assembly or the 1976 Code of Laws of South Carolina, it shall mean the "Department of Revenue."

Effect of Amendment

The 1991 amendment by Section 13, in subsection (A), inserted specific dates, such as December thirty-first and May first, in place of dates measured from a referendum or calendar quarter; by Section 1, in subsection (C) deleted the former fifth and sixth sentences and replaced them with one sentence.

The 1993 amendment changed "Tax Commission" to "Department of Revenue."

The 1998 amendment, in subsection (C), added the last sentence.