Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 2, page 3, beginning on line 10, by striking in its entirety Section 6-1-340(A) and inserting:
/ (A) Notwithstanding Section 4-9-30, 5-7-30, or any other provision of law, a business license tax levied by a county or municipality must comply with the provisions of this section. Unless otherwise provided, the provisions of this section and Section 6-1-350 do not apply to retail telecommunications services as defined in Sections 58-9-2200 through 58-9-2270. /
Amend further, SECTION 2, page 3, by striking Section 6-1-340(B)(2), (3), and (5) in their entirety and inserting:
/ (2) A county or
municipality may charge a one-time filing fee for a new business
license not to exceed one hundred dollars. If a filing fee is
charged, the amount paid must be deducted from the business
license tax owed at the end of the business license tax year.
The business license tax must be computed based on the adjusted
gross income for the calendar year preceding the due date or the
business' twelve-month fiscal year preceding the due date. The
tax for a business that has engaged in business for less than
one year must be computed based on the adjusted gross income for
the calendar year preceding the due date or the business'
twelve-month fiscal year preceding the due date. Use of
calendar year or twelve-month fiscal year must be determined by
the basis used by the business in its most recently filed
federal income tax return. A business license related to
construction contract projects may be issued on an individual
project basis at the option of the taxpayer.
(3) For purposes of
this section, 'adjusted gross income' means gross receipts, if
reported on a cash basis, or gross revenues, if reported on an
accrual basis, from the performance of services and from the
sale, lease, or rental of goods or other property in the
ordinary course of business, and with no reduction for the cost
of goods sold or other business expenses. Adjusted gross income
for real estate brokers-in-charge is gross commissions retained.
Adjusted gross income for manufacturers of goods or materials
with a location in a taxing jurisdiction is the lesser of gross
receipts or gross revenues collected from business done at the
location, the amount of income allocated and apportioned to that
location for purposes of the business' state income tax return,
or the amount of expenses attributable to the location as a cost
center of the business. Adjusted gross income of the owner of
intellectual property is considered attributable to the
jurisdiction of the owner.
(5) The adjusted gross
income for business license purposes may be verified by the
county or municipal officials by its inspection of returns and
reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service, the South
Carolina Department of Revenue, or other governmental agency. A
business license application and tax return is not subject to
Chapter 4, Title 30, the Freedom of Information Act. A business
license application and tax return, as well as the right of
inspection, may not be shared, transferred, assigned, or
contracted to any other entity, agency, department, or other
organization. /
Amend further, SECTION 2, page 4, beginning on line 29, by
striking Section 6-1-340(B)(4)(j) and inserting:
/ (J) twenty-five percent of revenue collected outside of the county or municipality where the business maintains its principal business license; or /
Amend further, SECTION 2, page 5, beginning on line 4, by striking Section 6-1-340(D)(1) and inserting:
/ (1) A county or municipality shall establish a 2019 Business License Tax Rate Schedule using business license tax revenue collected for a twelve-month period in the 2016 business license year so that the aggregate county or municipal business license tax calculated for 2019 does not exceed the aggregate county or municipal business license tax collected in 2016, adjusted for inflation, from the same businesses. /
Amend further, SECTION 2, page 5, by striking Section 6-1-340(G)(1) in its entirety and inserting:
/ (1) Any special ordinance or formal or informal agreement entered into between a county or municipality and a business regarding rate classes or the calculation of business license taxes which was adopted by ordinance or agreed to before January 1, 2019, is considered valid upon the approval of the business. A business may prove the existence and terms of an agreement through direct or circumstantial evidence, including evidence of prior payment accepted. /
Amend further, SECTION 2, page 6, Section 6-1-340 by adding an appropriately lettered subsection to read:
/ ( ) Life and accident
and health insurers that are entities subject to the insurance
premium taxes levied pursuant to Section 38-7-20 are exempt from
business license taxes and fees. /
Amend further, SECTION 2, beginning on page 6, by striking
Section 6-1-350(B)(2) in its entirety and inserting:
/ (2) The Secretary, in consultation with the board, shall determine and revise the Standardized Business License Class Schedule every odd year using the latest available nationwide Internal Revenue Service statistics for the calculation of profitability of businesses and using the business classification codes of the latest North American Industry Classification System. The Class Schedule must be determined further by use of an index of profitability derived by ratios based on division of net profit as the numerator and gross profit as the denominator. This index must be determined for each active and pertinent classification and subclassification, ranked from lowest ratio to highest ratio, and divided into seven classes. A county or municipality is authorized to establish the rate applicable to each license class in the Standardized Business License Class Schedule. /
Amend further, Section 6-1-350, SECTION 2, page 8, after line 16, by adding an appropriately lettered subsection to read:
/ ( ) The Secretary of State is authorized to expend any funds carried forward from previous fiscal years for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this section. Expenditures may not exceed the actual cost of implementing the provisions of this section. /
Amend further, SECTION 2, page 9, after line 24, by inserting a new section to read:
/ Section 6-1-370. (A)
The Secretary of State shall collect and administer the retail
telecommunications services business license taxes imposed by
any county or municipality pursuant to Sections 58-9-2200
through 58-9- 2270. Such taxes must be paid annually to the
Office of the Secretary of State and are due by January first of
the calendar year. Payments received after January thirty-first
are subject to a ten percent penalty each month. The Secretary
of State shall remit all tax received from the retail
telecommunications services business license tax to each
municipality by March first of the calendar year. The Secretary
of State is prohibited from auditing a taxpayer's retail
telecommunications services business license tax report.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a county or municipality also
shall allow a business to elect to file and pay its business
license tax in person at a location within the county or
municipality, by telephone, or by mail.
(B) A municipality that
requires a retail telecommunications service business license
tax pursuant to Sections 58-9-2200 through 58-9-2270 shall
accept a standard business license application as established
and provided by the Secretary of State.
(C) The Secretary of
State is authorized to contract with software providers and
payment processors for the purposes of implementing the
provisions of this section.
(D) Any audit of income
or assessment of a retail telecommunications services business
license tax must be undertaken by the county or municipality and
is subject to the provisions of Sections 6-1-360 and 6-1-120. A
county or municipality may not engage a third party to conduct
an audit on a contingent fee basis.
(E) The Secretary of
State shall retain an amount of not more than one quarter of one
percent of the revenue collected, to defray the administrative
costs of administering the business license tax program, but the
Secretary of State may not retain more than its actual
administrative costs.
(F) The Secretary of
State may promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of
this section." /
Amend further, SECTION 6, page 12, by striking Section 12-4-310(10) in its entirety and inserting:
/ (10) make available to the authorities of a municipality or county in this State levying a tax based on adjusted gross receipts or net taxable sales, any records indicating the amount of adjusted gross receipts or net taxable sales reported to the department; provided, however, that income tax records may be made available only if the department first has satisfied itself that the gross receipts reported to the municipality or county were less than the gross receipts as indicated by the records of the department; and /
Amend further, SECTION 7, page 13, by striking Section 38-7-160 in its entirety and inserting:
/ "Section 38-7-160. This title may not be construed as
preventing any municipality from levying and collecting license
fees or taxes in accordance with its ordinances on risks
located within the limits of that municipality. However, for
surplus lines insurance no municipality may charge an additional
license fee or tax based upon a percentage of premiums. A
municipality may not charge a license fee to fire insurers or
their agents licensed by the director or his designee in any
other manner than on a percentage of the premiums collected
in the on risks located within the limits of
that municipality or realized from risks located within the
limits of the municipality, or both,.
The license fee may not to exceed two
percent of the premiums collected in the municipality and
realized from risks located in the municipality, except in
cities of fifty thousand inhabitants or more, where not
exceeding in which case not more than five
percent may be charged. Preference must be given
hereunder to the municipality
wherein in which the insured property is
located, and, but if a license fee or
tax is levied against the insuring company on
such this basis, that
the company may not be subject to a similar license from
a municipality wherein it may collect the premium for
such transaction an insurance risk located
outside the limits of the municipality. Notwithstanding anything
in this section to the contrary, a municipal business license
tax or fee may not be levied on life and accident and health
insurers that are entities subject to the insurance premium
taxes levied pursuant to Section 38-7-20." /
Amend further, page 13, by striking SECTION 8 in its entirety and inserting:
/ SECTION 8. This act takes effect April 1, 2019. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.