SECTION 109 - R440 - DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

109.1. (DOR: Subpoenaed Employee Expense Reimbursement) If any employee of the Department of Revenue is subpoenaed to testify during litigation not involving the Department of Revenue, the party subpoenaing the employee(s) to testify shall reimburse the State for expenses incurred by the employee(s) requested to testify. Expenses shall include but are not limited to the cost of materials and the average daily salary of the employee or employees.

109.2. (DOR: Court Order Funds Carry Forward) Funds awarded to the Department of Revenue by court order shall be retained in a special account and shall be carried forward from year to year, and expended as needed to accomplish the purposes and conditions of said order if specified, and if not specified, as may be directed by the Director of the Department of Revenue.

109.3. (DOR: Rural Infrastructure Fund Transfer) Notwithstanding Section 12-10-85, the Department of Revenue is authorized to deposit revenues from the Rural Infrastructure Fund in excess of $12 million dollars to the Rural Infrastructure Fund under the Rural Infrastructure Authority. Any revenues in excess of $17 million shall be deposited in the Rural Infrastructure Fund under the Department of Commerce, Coordinating Council.

109.4. (DOR: SCBOS Funds) The Department of Revenue shall share equally the collection assistance fees imposed on overdue tax debt with the South Carolina Business One Stop program. The funds received by the department from this fee shall be used for continued administration of the revenue laws in a fair and impartial manner. Any unexpended funds generated by the fee shall be carried forward from the prior fiscal year into the current fiscal year and shall also be shared equally between the Department of Revenue and the South Carolina Business One Stop program.

109.5. (DOR: Across the Board Cut Exemption) Whenever the Executive Budget Office or General Assembly implements an across the board budget reduction, the funds appropriated to the Department of Revenue shall be exempt from any such mandated budget reduction.

109.6. (DOR: Candidate Tax Return Programs) (A) From the funds appropriated in this act, the department must develop a program to process inquiries from a candidate for an office of this State or its political subdivisions or any gubernatorial appointee concerning whether that candidate or appointee has filed annual state income tax returns that he was required to file during the past ten years, regardless of the source of income, has paid all income taxes due during that time period, and has satisfied all judgments, liens, or other penalties for failure to pay income taxes when due. The department may only respond to an inquiry if the inquiry is made by a candidate or appointee concerning that candidates or appointees own income tax returns.

(B) Unless a candidate or appointee requests otherwise, the department must post the results of all inquiries from candidates or appointees in a prominent place on its internet website. The information must be organized in the following manner: (1) the candidates name as it will appear on the ballot or the appointees name as it appears on his income tax returns; (2) identify the years that the candidate or appointee was required to file income tax returns and identify the years, if any, that the candidate or appointee was not required to file income tax returns; (3) state whether the candidate or appointee filed income tax returns in each year that the candidate or appointee was required to file income tax returns; (4) state whether the candidate or appointee paid income taxes due each year that the candidate or appointee was required to file income tax returns; and (5) state whether the candidate or appointee had a judgment, lien, or other penalty levied against him for failure to pay income taxes when due, the year of the levy, and whether that judgment, lien, or other penalty has been satisfied. The department may not post a candidates complete income tax return when fulfilling its obligations under this proviso.

(C) (1) Participation in this program by a candidate or appointee is voluntary.

(2) A candidates or appointees inquiry constitutes a waiver of confidentiality with the department concerning the information posted.

109.7. (DOR: Fraudulent Tax Return Program) The Department of Revenue may establish a Fraudulent Tax Return Detection Program to prevent payment of fraudulent tax refunds. To implement the program the department may contract with information and technology entities to provide the necessary detection capabilities. The department shall pay for the program from the savings realized by implementation.

109.8. (DOR: Treasury Offset Program) The Department of Revenue is authorized to retain up to $140,000 of mailing and associated administrative costs incurred as a result of the States participation in and the notice requirements of the Federal Treasury Offset Program. Retained expenses shall be from tax offset revenue received from the federal government. Remaining revenue shall be deposited in the General Fund.

109.9. (DOR: May Events) Of the accommodation tax returned to Horry County or the municipalities therein, excluding municipalities that have enacted a Tourism Development Fee up to one third of the total allocation may be set aside and used for direct policing activities during events held in May within Horry County. By October thirty-first, the local government must inform the Department of Revenue the percentage of accommodation tax to withhold, not to exceed one third of the estimated yearly return, which will be dedicated to direct policing activities. These funds shall be sent by the Department of Revenue to the local governing entity upon request of the local entity. A report on the expenditure of these funds, which must include the amount and purpose for which the funds were expended shall be submitted by the county or municipalities to the Governor, the Chairman of Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee no later than ninety days after the end of any event in which these funds are expended.

109.10. RESERVED

109.11. (DOR: Tourist Safety) Of the accommodation tax returned to any municipality in Horry County that has a Tourism Development Fee, up to fifty percent of the allocation designated under Section 6-4-10(3) of the 1976 Code may be set aside and used for direct policing purposes related to tourism. Direct policing purposes include temporary personnel, equipment, and the installation and maintenance of infrastructure related thereto. These funds may not exceed sixty-five percent of the total new funds dedicated to the additional policing purposes implemented. Each municipality utilizing this provision shall include expenditures and revenue sources in its annual report to the Tourism Expenditure Review Committee and shall submit copies of the report to the Governor, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

109.12. (DOR: Notification of Protest) In the current fiscal year and from the funds appropriated, if a taxpayer, other than an individual, files a written protest pursuant to Section 12-60-2120 of the 1976 Code, the department shall notify any affected county and school district of the written protest.

109.13. (DOR: Food Manufacturing Equipment) DELETED

109.14. (DOR: Collection of Business License Taxes) Except for business license taxes collected pursuant to Article 20, Chapter 9, of Title 58, and Chapters 7 and 45 of Title 38, of the 1976 Code, a private, third party entity is prohibited from assessing or collecting business license taxes or requiring a business entity to remit confidential business license tax data to that private third party on behalf of counties or municipalities. This proviso shall not prohibit a county or municipality from contracting with a third party entity in assisting in the collection of business license taxes. For purposes of this proviso, assisting in the collection of business license taxes is defined as identification of businesses that do not have a business license, providing that identification to a county or municipality and/or providing by United States mail official municipality or county business license forms, along with a self-addressed envelope containing the county or municipality address, to identified businesses on behalf of the county or municipality; but does not include collecting personal or proprietary information from the identified business. A third party assisting in the collection of business license taxes as defined is this proviso is prohibited from any further contact with the business. This proviso shall not prohibit a county or municipality from contracting with a third party entity solely for the purpose of providing payment processing services for the acceptance of business license tax payments.

A study committee shall be established to study reform and implementation of a third party collection system. The study committee shall be composed of the following:

(1) One member appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee;

(2) One member appointed by the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee;

(3) One member appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee;

(4) One member appointed by the Chairman of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee;

(5) One member of the Municipal Association of South Carolina;

(6) One member of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce;

(7) One member of the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance;

(8) One member of the South Carolina Association of Realtors; and

(9) One member of the South Carolina Association of Counties.

Staff support for the study committee shall be provided by the relevant standing committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as appropriate.

109.15. (DOR: Cigarette Stamps) The Department of Revenue must extend the date by which a person must file a report with the department stating the quantity of such unstamped packages of cigarettes that were in the persons possession as of January 1, 2019, to until October 1, 2019. If a person files the report by October 1, 2019, then the person is deemed to have filed the report by March 31, 2019. Upon application, in the current fiscal year, the department must refund any fine collected in contravention of this proviso.