Could South Carolina’s revenue department revoke a license for failing to report business personal property?

Plain-English summary

An Aiken County tax collector asked whether the state revenue department could revoke a taxpayer's license after the taxpayer failed to report business personal property for property-tax purposes. The AG concluded that the department's discretionary license-revocation power applied to that failure.

The power covered violations of laws the department administered. The AG reasoned that the reporting law required taxpayers to file the return with the department, which calculated assessed value and sent assessments to local taxing authorities. Local use of the assessment did not remove the return requirement from the department's administration. The opinion identified authority to revoke; it did not say revocation was mandatory for every failure.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1994. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Could the department revoke a license for a missing business-property return?
The AG said it had authority to do so under the law then discussed because that filing duty belonged to a law the department administered.

Did the county's use of the assessment put the filing law outside the department's authority?
No. Taxpayers filed with the department, which made the assessment and sent it to local governments.

Did the opinion require license revocation for every failure?
No. The statutory power quoted in the letter was discretionary.

What kind of property report was at issue?
It was the required return reporting a taxpayer's business personal property for property-tax assessment.

Background and statutory framework

Section 12-54-90 allowed the department to revoke licenses in its discretion for noncompliance with a law it administered. Section 12-37-970 required business-personal-property returns to the department and directed it to assess the property and forward the assessment to local taxing authorities. The AG treated the latter as a department-administered law.

Citations and references

• Section 12-54-90: discretionary license-revocation authority analyzed.
• Section 12-37-970: business-personal-property return and assessment process analyzed.

Official title

Asking if the Department of Revenue has the authority to revoke a license under Section 12-54-90 for a taxpayer who fails to report its business personal property.

Requester

The Honorable J. Martin Posey, Tax Collector, Aiken County

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/july-6-1994/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1994july6posey.pdf

Original opinion text

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
COLUMBIA
OPINION NO.

July 6, 1994

SUBJECT:

Taxation and Revenue - Use of s.c. Code Ann. Section 12-54-90 (Supp. 1993) in collecting property taxes by a county.

SYLLABUS:

The authority granted to the Department of Revenue under s.c. Code Ann. Section 12-54-90 (Supp. 1993) to revoke one or more licenses held by a taxpayer is applicable to a taxpayer who fails to report its business personal property for property tax purposes. s.c. Code Ann. Section 12-37-970 (Supp. 1993) requires the filing of a return reporting the taxpayer's business personal property, requires the Department to utilize the information in making its assessment and requires the Department to supply the assessment to the various political subdivisions. Such statute is within the scope of Section 12-54-90 since the statutory duty to file a return is established under a "law . . . administered by the commission."

TO:

Honorable J. Martin Posey
Tax Collector, Aiken County

FROM:

Ray N. Stevens//.://)
Chief Deputy itt~ney General

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QUESTION:
Does
the
Department of Revenue have the
authority to revoke a license under Section 12-54-90 for a taxpayer who fails to report its business personal property? APPLICABLE LAW: S.C. 12-54-90 (Supp. 1993).

Code

Ann.

Sections

12-37-970

DISCUSSION:
Section 12-54-90 provides in part the following: When a person fails, neglects, violates, or refuses to comply with a provision of law or regulation administered by the commission, the commission, in its discretion, may revoke one or more licenses held by the taxpayer . .

and

Honorable J. Martin Posey
Page Two

July 6, 1994

Under this section, the Department of Revenue may revoke a license if the law with which the taxpayer fails to comply is a law "administered by the commission." Thus, the question becomes one of deciding if the duty to file a business personal property tax return is pursuant to a law administered by the Department of Revenue. If yes, Section 12-54-90 is applicable, and if not, Section 12-54-90 is not applicable. The law requiring the filing of a business personal property return is Section 12-37-970. That statute requires that "property tax returns [must be] submitted by the taxpayers to the department on or before the last day of the fourth month after the close of the accounting period . . . . " Upon obtaining the returns, the Department calculates the assessed value of the property and "shall forward the assessments prepared as a result of the returns submitted pursuant to this section [12-37-970) to the appropriate local taxing authorities. . . "

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In Bowaters Carolina Corp. v. Smith, 257 s.c. 563, 186 S.E.2d 761 (1972), the Court was asked to decide if interest was owed on the refund of property taxes to a manufacturer who recovered its property taxes through litigation. The statute under review authorized interest on taxes "administered by the South Carolina Tax Commission." The Court held interest was required on the property tax recovery since the Tax Commission did in fact administer the property tax owed by manufacturers. The Court relied upon the fact that the law required that the "returns by such taxpayers shall be made to the Commission on forms prescribed by it" and that the assessment was required to be made by the Tax Commission. Bowaters, supra, 186 S.E.2d 761, 765. Here, just as in Bowaters, Section 12-37-970 requires the taxpayer to file its business personal property return with the Department. Further, again just as in Bowaters, the Department is directed to make the assessment and supply the assessment to the various political subdivisions. Accordingly, Section 12-37-970 is a law administered by the Department. CONCLUSION: The

authority granted to the Department of Revenue under Code Ann. Section 12-54-90 (Supp. 1993) to revoke one or more licenses held by a taxpayer is applicable to a taxpayer who fails to report its business personal property for property tax purposes. S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-37-970

s.c.

Honorable J. Martin Posey
Page Three

July 6, 1994

(Supp. 1993} requires the filing of a return reporting the taxpayer's business personal property, requires the Department to utilize the information in making its assessment and requires the Department to supply the assessment to the various political subdivisions. Such statute is within the scope of Section 12-54-90 since the statutory duty to file a return is established under a "law
. administered by the commission."
RNS:wcg

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