H 3269 Session 109 (1991-1992)
H 3269 General Bill, By Kirsh, Elliott and D.E. McTeer
A Bill to amend Sections 12-36-120, 12-36-910, 12-36-920, 12-36-930,
12-36-2120, 12-36-2560, and 12-36-2650, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
relating to the South Carolina Sales and Use Tax Act, so as to make technical
corrections; and to amend the 1976 Code by adding Sections 12-36-560,
12-36-570, 12-36-1730, 12-36-1740, 12-36-2660, and 12-36-2670, so as to
provide criminal and civil penalties for violations relating to retail
licenses and the casual excise tax, to provide for enforcement, and authorize
the members of the Tax Commission or their designees to administer oaths or
take acknowledgments.
01/22/91 House Introduced and read first time HJ-9
01/22/91 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-10
03/19/91 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment Ways
and Means HJ-17
03/20/91 House Amended HJ-21
03/20/91 House Read second time HJ-21
03/21/91 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-9
03/21/91 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-15
03/21/91 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance SJ-15
04/25/91 Senate Committee report: Favorable Finance SJ-34
04/29/91 Senate Read second time SJ-14
04/29/91 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
amendments SJ-14
06/03/92 Senate Amended SJ-95
06/04/92 Senate Read third time and returned to House with
amendments SJ-131
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
June 3, 1992
H. 3269
Introduced by REPS. Kirsh, McTeer and D. Elliott
S. Printed 6/3/92--S.
Read the first time March 21, 1991.
A BILL
TO AMEND SECTIONS 12-36-120, 12-36-910, 12-36-920, 12-36-930,
12-36-2120, 12-36-2560, AND 12-36-2650, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE SOUTH
CAROLINA SALES AND USE TAX ACT, SO AS TO MAKE
TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND TO AMEND THE 1976 CODE
BY ADDING SECTIONS 12-36-560, 12-36-570, 12-36-1730,
12-36-1740, 12-36-2660, AND 12-36-2670, SO AS TO PROVIDE
CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS
RELATING TO RETAIL LICENSES AND THE CASUAL EXCISE
TAX, TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT, AND AUTHORIZE THE
MEMBERS OF THE TAX COMMISSION OR THEIR DESIGNEES
TO ADMINISTER OATHS OR TAKE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Items (1) and (4) of Section 12-36-120 of the 1976 Code
are amended to read:
"(1) tangible personal property to licensed retail merchants,
jobbers, dealers, or wholesalers for resale, and do not include sales to
users or consumers not for resale;"
"(4) materials, containers, cores, labels, sacks, or bags used
incident to the sale and delivery of tangible personal property, or
used by manufacturers, processors, and compounders in shipping
tangible personal property."
SECTION 2. That portion of Section 12-36-910(B) which precedes item
(1) is amended to read:
"(B) The sales tax imposed by this article also
applies to the:"
SECTION 3. Section 12-36-920 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"(E) The taxes imposed by this section are imposed on every
person engaged or continuing within this State in the business of
furnishing accommodations to transients for consideration."
SECTION 4. Section 12-36-930(A)(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(2) the tax that would be imposed under this article
chapter."
SECTION 5. Section 12-36-2120(9)(d) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(d) the generation of motive power for transportation. For
the purposes of this item exemption, `manufacturer' or
`manufacturing' includes the activities of mining and quarrying;"
SECTION 6. Section 12-36-2120(12) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(12) water sold by public utilities, if rates and charges are
of the kind determined by the Public Service Commission, or
water sold by nonprofit corporations organized pursuant to Sections
33-35-10 to 33-35-170;"
SECTION 7. Section 12-36-2120(26) of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"(26) all supplies, technical equipment, machinery, and
electricity sold to radio and television stations, and cable television
systems, for use in producing, broadcasting, or distributing
programs. For the purpose of this exemption, radio stations,
television stations, and cable television systems are deemed to be
manufacturers;"
SECTION 8. The first paragraph of Section 12-36-2560 of the 1976
Code is amended to read:
"On all sales of retailers liable for the tax imposed by
Article 9 of this chapter (sales tax) made on an installment basis
which conform to the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code in
which the retailer takes a security interest, the vendor may elect to
include in the return only the portion of the sales price actually received
by the retailer during the taxable period or to include the entire sales
price in the return for the taxable period during which the sale was
consummated. Having once elected either method of reporting the sales,
the taxpayer must continue unless and until permission has been
received from the commission to make a change. Nothing in this section
may be construed to permit delay in reporting sales under other terms of
credit or cash sales."
SECTION 9. Section 12-36-2650 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 12-36-2650. The taxes imposed by this chapter are
in addition to all other taxes, licenses, and charges and no provisions
of this chapter may be construed to relieve a person from the payment
of a license or privilege tax now or hereafter imposed by
law."
SECTION 10. Article 5, Chapter 36, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 12-36-560. A person liable for the license tax
provided by this article who engages in business as a seller or retailer in
this State without a retail license or after the license has been suspended,
and each officer of a corporation which engages in business without a
retail license or after the license is suspended, is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, must be punished by a fine of not more than two
hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or both.
Offenses under this section are triable in magistrate's court.
Section 12-36-570. A person liable for the license tax provided
by this article who fails to pay the tax or obtain the license within the
time provided or who fails to comply with a lawful regulation of the
commission is liable for a penalty not to exceed two thousand
five hundred dollars."
SECTION 11. Article 17, Chapter 36, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 12-36-1730. A person who wilfully or knowingly
makes a false statement for the purpose of avoiding all or a part of the
casual excise tax imposed by this article or who assists another person
to avoid all or a part of the casual excise tax levied by this article is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished by a
fine of not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than
thirty days, or both. Offenses under this section are triable in
magistrate's court.
Section 12-36-1740. A person liable for the casual excise tax
provided by this article who fails to pay the tax or comply with a lawful
regulation of the commission is liable for a penalty not to exceed two
thousand five hundred dollars."
SECTION 12. Article 25, Chapter 36, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 12-36-2660. The Tax Commission shall administer
and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Section 12-36-2670. The commissioners or their designees may
administer an oath to a person or take the acknowledgement of a person
with respect to a return or report required by this title or the regulations
of the commission."
SECTION 13. Chapter 43, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"Article 5
Appeals
Section 12-43-510. (A) As used in this article:
(1) `Board' or `board of appeal' means the board for each
county established to hear appeals of taxpayers concerning the valuation,
assessment, and taxation of their property.
(2) `Assessor' means the county officer or official charged
with the duty to assess or value, or both assess and value, real property.
(3) `Taxpayer' means the person instituting the appeal.
(4) `Panel' means a group of three members of the board of
appeal.
(B) Each county shall have a board of appeal consisting of from
seven to twelve members elected by the governing body of the county.
Members shall serve for terms of four years and until their successors
are elected and qualify except that of those first elected, the council shall
provide for staggered terms. The board shall elect a chairman who may
call meetings or hearings for the purpose of hearing appeals from the
assessor's office. When in the judgment of the chairman there is a need
for additional hearings, he may name panels to hear appeals. The
chairman may call hearings for the board or panels as often as he
considers necessary. The chairman shall appoint panel chairmen who
shall serve at his pleasure. A panel has the same authority as the full
board.
(C) If the board does not schedule a hearing within one and one-half years of the appeal, then the taxpayer's value is the taxable value
contended by the taxpayer for the tax year in question. This rule does
not apply if the taxpayer requests a hearing be delayed or rescheduled.
(D) The county shall pay board members mileage at the same rate
as other county employees and an amount to attend board or panel
meetings of at least fifty dollars a meeting. This subsection does not
prohibit the county from paying a greater amount for attending.
(E) If all of the following conditions are met:
(1) a taxpayer has made an appeal to a board;
(2) the hearing of the board is not held until after one or more
subsequent assessment dates for the property;
(3) no event has occurred between the date of the assessment
being appealed and the date of the hearing which would change the
assessment of the property, such as improvements to the property,
destruction of part of the property by fire, storm, etc.; and
(4) the person responsible for paying the taxes has not
changed between the date of the assessment being appealed and the date
of the hearing;
then the appeal will be automatically extended to cover those subsequent
assessment dates before the hearing.
(F) The term `board' as used in current property tax regulations is
considered to mean `board' or `panel' or both as appropriate.
Section 12-43-520. (A) A taxpayer or the assessor may appeal
from the finding of the board upon written notice to the chairman of the
commission within twenty days from the date of the board's finding.
The grounds for the appeal must be filed with the board. The board,
upon receipt of the notice of appeal, shall deliver a copy of the notice to
the assessor or the owner.
(B) Not more than thirty days after receipt of the notice of appeal,
the board shall deliver to the commission, the assessor, and the taxpayer
a certified copy of the proceedings before that board together with the
transcript of testimony and exhibits offered to the board. The records
must be sent in the following order:
(1) the board's order;
(2) the transcript of the individual hearing before the board;
(3) the assessor's documents submitted to the board as
evidence. Each document must be marked sequentially as assessor's
Exhibit Number 1, et seq. Identification must occur at the time a
document is introduced at the hearing;
(4) the taxpayer's documents submitted to the board as
evidence marked in the same manner as the assessor's; and
(5) the taxpayer's appeal letter to the board.
On receipt, the commission shall schedule a hearing on the appeal. No
issue or matter may be considered by the commission that was not first
presented to the board. All grounds or exceptions must be set out in the
notice of appeal to the commission.
(C) The taxpayer or his representative and the assessor or his
designee shall attend the hearing and offer argument in support of their
respective positions. The board, by representation or otherwise, may
attend the hearing and offer argument in support of its findings. The
commission shall, after considering the argument, record, and evidence,
issue a written finding. Copies must be transmitted to the taxpayer, the
board, the assessor, and the county auditor. The finding to the county
auditor is the order for entry upon the assessment rolls or tax duplicate
of the county.
(D) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a
property owner the right to petition the commission for relief on a matter
over which the commission exercises original jurisdiction."
SECTION 14. Article 1, Chapter 37, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 12-37-120. The taxpayer aggrieved by the valuation
of personal property required to be licensed or registered with an agency
or department of the State may appeal the valuation. For purposes of the
appeal the tax notice is the notice of appraisal and assessment. The
appeal must be in writing to the county auditor and mailed or given to
the auditor by the due date of the taxes. Upon receipt of the appeal the
county auditor shall mail the taxpayer an appeal form which must be
completed and returned to the auditor within twenty days of mailing.
The form must be approved by the commission before being used by the
county.
The information requested on the form must be provided. A failure
to do so constitutes an abandonment of the appeal. Upon receipt of the
information the county auditor shall review it and take the necessary
action to reflect the market value of the properties. The county auditor
shall notify the taxpayer of the action within twenty days after receipt of
the completed appeal form. If the taxpayer is still aggrieved by the
decision of the county auditor, he may appeal to the commission by
filing a written notice of appeal with the chairman of the commission
within twenty days of the auditor's actions. A copy of the notice must
be forwarded to the county auditor, and shall contain all the grounds and
reasons for the appeal. Grounds that are not published or contained in
the notice of appeal may not be considered by the commission in hearing
the appeal. The commission shall then set a date for a hearing. The
county auditor or his representative must be present at the hearing. The
commission shall hear the appeal upon the record and also may accept
and consider new and additional evidence. The commission shall make
its decision upon the record before it.
However, a taxpayer aggrieved by the valuation of personal property,
other than that required to be licensed or registered with an agency or
department of the State, that was determined by the county auditor may
appeal to the commission. The appeal must be in writing and mailed or
given to the chairman of the commission within twenty days of the tax
notice. The notice of appeal shall contain all grounds for the appeal.
Grounds that are not published or contained in the notice of appeal may
not be considered by the commission in hearing the appeal. The notice
of appeal shall further contain the valuation and assessment which the
owner considers the fair market value and assessment of the property.
The commission shall then set a date for a hearing. The county auditor
or his representative must be present at the hearing. The commission
shall hear the appeal upon the record and may also accept and consider
new and additional evidence. The commission shall make its decision
upon the record before it."
SECTION 15. Section 12-37-90 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"(i) keep an appeals log book with the following information:
(1) name of owner and date of appeal;
(2) tax map identification number of the parcel appealed;
(3) basis of the appeal;
(4) value and assessment before appeal;
(5) value and assessment after appeal;
(6) basis of changes and the name of the appraiser who made
the change; and
(7) the appeal results if appealed to the local board.
(j) have in his care and responsibility tax maps, aerial photography,
overlays, updates, and all other related matters of tax mapping."
SECTION 16. (A) Section 17(A) of Act 168 of 1991 is amended to
read:
"(A) A corporation which acquires eight or more existing
textile manufacturing facilities in South Carolina which employed at the
time of acquisition a total of three thousand five hundred or more
employees located in a county of this State may receive the
five-year abatement pursuant to Section 12-37-220A(7) of the 1976
Code from the time of acquisition. For purposes of this item
`acquisition' means asset transactions which are arms-length and include
new capital. For purposes of this section `corporation' means a
single corporation or an `affiliated group' of corporations, as defined in
Section 1504 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which
may acquire such facilities pursuant to a single transaction. This section
also applies to wholly-owned subsidiaries of the corporation which may
have acquired any of the eight textile manufacturing facilities from the
corporation in a tax free transaction pursuant to Section 351 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended."
(B) This section is effective with respect to acquisitions after April
30, 1988.
SECTION 17. Section 12-36-110(1)(g) of the 1976 Code, as added by
Act 612 of 1990, is amended to read:
"(g) sales of tangible personal property food
products, other than cigarettes and soft drinks in closed
containers, to vendors who sell the property through vending machines.
The vendors of food products other than soft drinks in closed
containers are deemed to be the users or consumers of the
property products;"
SECTION 18. (A) Chapter 10, Title 4 of the 1976 Code is amended
by adding:
"Section 4-10-110. Funds collected by the commission from
the local option sales tax which are not identified as to the governmental
unit due the tax, after a reasonable effort by the commission to
determine the appropriate governmental unit, must be deposited to a
local option supplemental revenue fund. These funds must be
distributed quarterly to the governmental units imposing the tax on the
basis of distribution in each unit."
(B) Notwithstanding the distribution provisions of Section 4-10-110 of the 1976 Code, the first three hundred seventy-five thousand
dollars distributed pursuant to that section must be deposited in the
Local Government Fund established pursuant to Chapter 27 of Title 6 in
lieu of the requirements of Section 3 of Act 317 of 1990. The revenue
deposited by this section to the Local Government Fund must be made
on an equal basis between county and municipal governments.
SECTION 19. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 4-10-60 of
the 1976 Code, for the purpose of distribution only, the State Treasurer
shall distribute all revenue credited to the Property Tax Credit Fund and
the County/Municipal Revenue Fund from the date of imposition of the
tax through deposits made by June 30, 1992. For purposes of all
revenue deposited and distributed after June 30, 1992, the provisions of
Section 4-10-60 of the 1976 Code apply.
SECTION 20. Section 12-4-720(A)(1) of the 1976 Code, as added by
Act 50 of 1991, is amended to read:
"(1) Except as otherwise provided in items (2) and (3) of
this subsection, any tax-exempt property owner or property owner whose
property may qualify for property exemption shall file an application for
exemption with the commission between January first and April
fifteenth thirtieth of the first year for which the
exemption is claimed."
SECTION 21. Article 3, Chapter 43, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 12-43-345. For the purpose of assessing property of
manufacturers as the same is used in Section 12-4-540(A)(1) and (10),
the commission shall follow the classifications set out in Division B and
Division D of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987
Edition. However, establishments publishing newspapers, books, and
periodicals which do not have facilities for printing or which do not
actually print their publications may not be classified as manufacturers,
notwithstanding the provisions of Division D Major Group 27 relating
to printing, publishing, and allied industries."
SECTION 22. Section 12-4-540(A) of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding at the end:
"In the case of distribution facilities, the commission shall
assess only those facilities containing more than one hundred thousand
square feet or those which qualify for the exemption allowed pursuant
to Section 12-37-220B(32)."
Amend further, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately
numbered section to read:
SECTION 23. Article 13, Chapter 1, Title 9 of the 1976 Code is
amended by adding:
"Section 9-1-1518. An employee who has attained the age of
seventy years who is otherwise eligible to retire under a retirement
system established by this title other than the system in which he
currently participates may receive his full service retirement benefits
from the other system."
SECTION 24. Section 9-1-1537 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
SECTION 25. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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