H 4553 Session 112 (1997-1998)
H 4553 General Bill, By W. McLeod
A BILL TO AMEND SECTIONS 4-9-30 AND 5-7-30, BOTH AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE AUTHORITY OF A COUNTY AND A
MUNICIPALITY, RESPECTIVELY, TO LEVY A BUSINESS LICENSE TAX ON THE GROSS INCOME
OF A BUSINESS OPERATING WITHIN THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY, SO AS TO ALLOW A
COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY TO IMPOSE BY ORDINANCE A FEE IN LIEU OF A BUSINESS
LICENSE TAX.
01/29/98 House Introduced and read first time HJ-29
01/29/98 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-30
A BILL
TO AMEND SECTIONS 4-9-30 AND 5-7-30, BOTH AS
AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
RELATING TO THE AUTHORITY OF A COUNTY AND A
MUNICIPALITY, RESPECTIVELY, TO LEVY A BUSINESS
LICENSE TAX ON THE GROSS INCOME OF A BUSINESS
OPERATING WITHIN THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY, SO
AS TO ALLOW A COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY TO IMPOSE
BY ORDINANCE A FEE IN LIEU OF A BUSINESS LICENSE
TAX.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 4-9-30(12) of the 1976 Code, as last
amended by Act 405 of 1994, is further amended to read:
"(12) (a) to levy uniform license taxes upon persons and
businesses engaged in or intending to engage in a business,
occupation, or profession, in whole or in part, within the county but
outside the corporate limits of a municipality except those persons
who are engaged in the profession of teaching or who are ministers
of the gospel and rabbis, except persons and businesses acting in the
capacity of telephone, telegraph, gas and electric utilities, suppliers,
or other utility regulated by the Public Service Commission and
except an entity which is exempt from license tax under another law
or a subsidiary or affiliate of any such exempt entity. No county
license fee or tax may be levied on insurance companies. The license
tax must be graduated according to the gross income of the person or
business taxed. A business engaged in making loans secured by real
estate is subject to the license tax only if it has premises located in the
county but outside the corporate limits of a municipality. If the
person or business taxed pays a license tax to another county or to a
municipality, the gross income for the purpose of computing the tax
must be reduced by the amount of gross income taxed in the other
county or municipality.
(b) (1) The General Assembly finds that:
(i) the state's economy is centrally connected and, as the
wealth-generating capacity of South Carolina's businesses has
increased, so has the state's per capita income increased; and
(ii) the continued growth of the state's economy is dependent
upon continued location, development, and growth of businesses and
industries in South Carolina's various local political subdivisions;
and
(iii) it is vital that local political subdivisions facilitate and
encourage economic location, development, and growth in their areas
by meeting specific and peculiar needs of both the area and the
commercial enterprise.
(2) The county may impose, by ordinance, a fee in lieu of the
business license tax described in this item."
SECTION 2. Section 5-7-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by
Act 171 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"Section 5-7-30. (A) Each municipality of the State, in
addition to the powers conferred to its specific form of government,
may enact regulations, resolutions, and ordinances, not inconsistent
with the Constitution and general law of this State, including the
exercise of powers in relation to roads, streets, markets, law
enforcement, health, and order in the municipality or respecting any
subject which appears to it necessary and proper for the security,
general welfare, and convenience of the municipality or for
preserving health, peace, order, and good government in it, including
the authority to levy and collect taxes on real and personal property
and as otherwise authorized in this section, make assessments, and
establish uniform service charges relating to them; the authority to
abate nuisances; the authority to provide police protection in
contiguous municipalities and in unincorporated areas located not
more than three miles from the municipal limits upon the request and
agreement of the governing body of such contiguous municipality or
the county, including agreement as to the boundaries of such police
jurisdictional areas, in which case the municipal law enforcement
officers shall have the full jurisdiction, authority, rights, privileges,
and immunities, including coverage under the workers' compensation
law, which they have in the municipality, including the authority to
make arrests, and to execute criminal process within the extended
jurisdictional area; provided, however, that this shall not extend the
effect of the laws of the municipality beyond its corporate
boundaries; grant franchises for the use of public streets and make
charges for them; engage in the recreation function; levy a business
license tax on gross income, but a wholesaler delivering goods to
retailers in a municipality is not subject to the business license tax
unless he maintains within the corporate limits of the municipality a
warehouse or mercantile establishment for the distribution of
wholesale goods; and a business engaged in making loans secured by
real estate is not subject to the business license tax unless it has
premises located within the corporate limits of the municipality and
no entity which is exempt from the license tax under another law nor
a subsidiary or affiliate of an exempt entity is subject to the business
license tax; borrow in anticipation of taxes; and pledge revenues to
be collected and the full faith and credit of the municipality against
its note and conduct advisory referenda. The municipal governing
body may fix fines and penalties for the violation of municipal
ordinances and regulations not exceeding five hundred dollars or
imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or both.
(B) For the purpose of providing and maintaining
parking for the benefit of a downtown commercial area, a
municipality may levy a surtax upon the business license of a person
doing business in a designated area in an amount not to exceed fifty
percent of the current yearly business license tax upon terms and
conditions fixed by ordinance of the municipal council. The area
must be designated by council only after a petition is submitted by
not less than two-thirds of the persons paying a business license tax
in the area and who paid not less than one-half of the total business
license tax collected for the preceding calendar year requesting the
designation of the area. The business within the designated area
which is providing twenty-five or more parking spaces for customer
use is required to pay not more than twenty-five percent of a surtax
levied pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph
subsection.
(C) (1) The General Assembly finds that:
(a) the state's economy is centrally connected and, as the
wealth-generating capacity of South Carolina's businesses has
increased, so has the state's per capita income increased; and
(b) the continued growth of the state's economy is dependent
upon continued location, development, and growth of businesses and
industries in South Carolina's various local political subdivisions;
and
(c) it is vital that local political subdivisions facilitate and
encourage economic location, development, and growth in their areas
by meeting specific and peculiar needs of both the area and the
commercial enterprise.
(2) A municipality may impose, by ordinance, a fee in lieu of
the business license tax on gross income described in this
section."
SECTION 3. This act is effective for tax years beginning after
1998.
-----XX----- |