H 4868 General Bill, By H. Brown, Cooper and Keegan
 A BILL TO AMEND SECTIONS 12-37-2810, 12-37-2820, AS AMENDED, 12-37-2830, AS
 AMENDED, 12-37-2840, AS AMENDED, AND 12-37-2850, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF
 SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MOTOR CARRIERS AND THE ASSESSMENT OF
 PROPERTY TAXES ON MOTOR VEHICLES OF MOTOR CARRIERS, SO AS TO REVISE THE
 DEFINITION OF "MOTOR CARRIER" TO CLARIFY THAT THE DEFINITION EXTENDS TO THE
 TRANSPORTATION OF BOTH PROPERTY AND PERSONS, AND TO DEFINE "BUS" AND "GROSS
 CAPITALIZED COST"; TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT OF VALUATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
 REVENUE; TO PROVIDE FOR PROPOSED ASSESSMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT IF A MOTOR
 CARRIER FAILS TO FILE A RETURN; AND TO PROVIDE FOR ASSESSMENT BASED ON THE
 PRECEDING CALENDAR YEAR.

   03/24/98  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-8
   03/24/98  House  Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-8
   04/08/98  House  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Ways
                     and Means HJ-19
   04/15/98  House  Amended HJ-43
   04/15/98  House  Read second time HJ-44
   04/16/98  House  Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-14
   04/21/98  Senate Introduced, read first time, placed on calendar
                     without reference SJ-27
   05/26/98  Senate Amended SJ-20
   05/26/98  Senate Read second time SJ-20

AMENDED

May 26, 1998

H. 4868

S. Printed 5/26/98--S.

Read the first time April 21, 1998.

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTIONS 12-37-2810, 12-37-2820, AS AMENDED, 12-37-2830, AS AMENDED, 12-37-2840, AS AMENDED, AND 12-37-2850, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, ALL RELATING TO MOTOR CARRIERS AND THE ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES ON MOTOR VEHICLES OF MOTOR CARRIERS, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "MOTOR CARRIER" TO CLARIFY THAT THE DEFINITION EXTENDS TO THE TRANSPORTATION OF BOTH PROPERTY AND PERSONS, AND TO DEFINE "BUS" AND "GROSS CAPITALIZED COST"; TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT OF VALUATION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE; TO PROVIDE FOR PROPOSED ASSESSMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT IF A MOTOR CARRIER FAILS TO FILE A RETURN; AND TO PROVIDE FOR ASSESSMENT BASED ON THE PRECEDING CALENDAR YEAR.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 12-37-2810 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 461 of 1996, is amended to read:

"Section 12-37-2810. As used in this article, unless the context requires otherwise:

(A) 'Motor carrier' means a person who owns, controls, operates, manages, or leases a motor vehicle for the transporation of property in intrastate or interstate commerce. A motor carriers are further carrier is defined further as being a South Carolina-based International Registration Plan registrant or owning or leasing real property within this State used directly in the transportation of freight.

(B) 'Motor vehicle' means a motor propelled vehicle used for the transportation of property on a public highway with a gross vehicle weight of greater than twenty-six thousand pounds.

(C) 'Highway' means all public roads, highways, streets, and ways in this State, whether within a municipality or outside of a municipality.

(D) 'Person' means any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, company or association, and includes a guardian, trustee, executor, administrator, receiver, conservator, or a person acting in a fiduciary capacity.

(E) 'Semitrailers' means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that a part of its weight and of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle.

(F) 'Trailers' means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle."

SECTION 2. Section 12-37-2820 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 125 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-37-2820. (A) The Department of Revenue annually shall assess, equalize, and apportion the valuation of all motor vehicles of motor carriers. The valuation must be based on fair market value for the motor vehicles and an assessment ratio of nine and one-half percent as provided by Section 12-43-220(g). Fair market value is determined by depreciating the gross capitalized cost of each motor vehicle by an annual percentage depreciation allowance down to ten percent of the cost as follows:

(1) Year One - .90

(2) Year Two - .80

(3) Year Three - .65

(4) Year Four - .50

(5) Year Five - .35

(6) Year Six - .25

(7) Year Seven - .20

(8) Year Eight - .15

(9) Year Nine - .10

(B) 'Gross capitalized cost', as used in this section, means the original cost upon acquisition for income tax purposes, not to include taxes, interest, or cab customizing."

SECTION 3. Section 12-37-2830 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 125 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-37-2830. The value of a motor carrier's vehicles subject to property taxes in this State must be determined by the Department of Revenue based on the ratio of total mileage operated within this State during the preceding calendar year to the total mileage of its entire fleet operated within and without this State during the same preceding calendar year."

SECTION 4. Section 12-37-2840 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 125 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-37-2840. Motor carriers must file an annual property tax return with the Department of Revenue no later than the thirtieth day of June 30 for the preceding calendar year and remit one-half or the entire tax due as stated on the return. If the motor carrier fails to file its return, the department shall issue a proposed assessment which assumes all mileage was within this State. If one-half of the tax is remitted on or before June 30, the remaining one-half of the tax due must be paid to the Department of Revenue on or before December 31. If the motor carrier fails to remit tax due pursuant to this section, the department shall issue a notice to the motor carrier demanding payment for the entire amount shown to be due. If the motor carrier fails to remit the tax due within thirty days of receipt of the notice, the Department of Revenue shall notify the Department of Public Safety, which must may not renew the registrations of the motor vehicles required by this article to be on the property tax return. A twenty-five percent penalty must be added to the property tax due and the tax and penalty must be paid in full by cashier's check, money order, or cash. The penalty required by this section is instead of all other penalties and interest required by law.

Upon payment in full, the Department of Revenue shall notify the Department of Public Safety which then shall allow for registrations of the motor vehicles."

SECTION 5. Section 12-37-2850 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 125 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-37-2850. The Department of Revenue shall assess annually the taxes due based on the value determined in Section 12-28-2820 and an average millage for all purposes statewide for the current preceding calendar year and shall publish the average millage for the preceding year by June 1 of each year. The average millage may be increased to cover loss of revenue incurred by the Department of Revenue from not licensing trailers. The taxes assessed must be paid to the Department of Revenue no later than December thirty-first 31 of each year and may be made in two equal installments. Distribution of the taxes paid must be made by the State Treasurer's Office based on the distribution formula contained in Section 12-37-2870."

SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor for calendar years beginning after December 31, 1997.