South Carolina State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in South Carolina, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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How does South Carolina's accommodations tax apply to a hotel 'golf package' that bundles lodging, greens fees, and a meal for one price?
Break the package into its parts. Revenue Ruling 88-2 held that after a 1987 amendment excluded 'meals and other special items in promotional tourist packages' from the 2% accommodations tax, a hotel …
Could a contractor credit use tax paid to another state against South Carolina use tax on materials fabricated elsewhere and installed in South Carolina?
No. Section 12-35-815 allowed a qualifying credit for sales tax paid to another state, but not for another state's use tax. The sales-tax credit also required proof of payment and substantially simila…
Would South Carolina waive the estimated-tax underpayment penalty caused by the 1987 increase in the required prepayment from 70% to 90%?
Yes — as one-time transitional relief. In Revenue Ruling 88-1 the South Carolina Tax Commission waived the penalty for underpayment of estimated income tax that resulted from a 1987 law (§ 12-54-55) r…
Were fees paid to cancel noncancelable equipment leases early subject to South Carolina sales and use tax?
Yes. A fee paid to end a noncancelable equipment lease early was part of the lease's gross proceeds and sales price. Calling the payment a cancellation fee did not remove it from South Carolina sales …
Did a South Carolina savings and loan association have to collect sales tax when it sold U.S. Mint Constitution Coins as the Mint's consignee and federal agent?
No. The association sold the Constitution Coins as the U.S. Mint's consignee and agent while the Mint retained ownership, controlled price and recall, and received the proceeds. The sales were immune …
Were a South Carolina motor-vehicle dealer's sales to military non-appropriated fund instrumentalities exempt as sales to the federal government?
Yes. Sales to qualifying non-appropriated fund instrumentalities were treated as sales to the federal government and were exempt from South Carolina sales tax under section 12-35-550(42), effective Ju…
Did a North Carolina manufacturer owe South Carolina use tax when it sold equipment wholesale to an unregistered out-of-state distributor and drop-shipped it to the distributor's South Carolina customer?
No. The manufacturer's sale to the out-of-state distributor was a wholesale sale for resale and was not subject to use tax. The South Carolina purchaser was liable for use tax on the retail purchase.
Could an estate make a QTIP marital-deduction election where the surviving spouse had a life estate plus broad power to sell, convey, or dispose of the property?
No. The surviving spouse's broad right to use, sell, convey, and dispose of the property allowed appointment to someone other than herself during her lifetime. That power failed a QTIP requirement, so…
Could a manufacturer qualify for the five-year new-establishment property-tax exemption after buying an existing industrial building and some equipment?
Yes. The plant qualified as a new manufacturing establishment because ownership, products, market, and capital changed and the former operator had ceased business. Reusing the building and about half …
Could South Carolina penalize an electric cooperative and inspect pre-1978 records under the Unclaimed Property Act, and did the ruling decide its limitation and capital-credit defenses?
The Commission could impose the $100-per-day civil penalty before June 22, 1989 and inspect available cooperative records from before January 1, 1978. It issued no opinion on whether limitations barre…
Did land placed in the federal Conservation Reserve Program still qualify as agricultural real property for South Carolina's reduced property-tax assessment?
Yes. RR 87-9 held that farmland taken out of production under the federal Conservation Reserve Program (16 U.S.C. §§ 3831–3832) should still be designated agricultural real property for the reduced as…
Did the $300 maximum sales and use tax on research-and-development machinery apply only to manufacturers?
No. RR 87-8 held that the $300 maximum sales and use tax on each item of research-and-development machinery applied to both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing operations. The cap turned on the machine…
How did South Carolina define 'full-time employee' and 'service related industry' for the new-jobs tax credit?
RR 87-5 presumed a 'full-time employee' works at least 35 hours per week (a lower number allowed if standard for the job or industry), and defined a 'service related industry' as a business that earns…
Did a thrift store operated as part of a state residential rehabilitation program owe South Carolina income tax or property tax on its inventory?
No. The thrift store was a satellite operation of a state agency, its staff and funds remained under state control, and it was not subject to state income tax. Its inventory also was exempt from prope…
Did South Carolina tax interest on GNMA securities, and what was the effective date of that position?
GNMA interest remained taxable. RR 87-6 modified RR 87-4 only to clarify its effective date — tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1987 — while keeping the conclusion that interest on GNMA-guara…
Could a South Carolina resident claim a credit for another state's tax on pension income earned through medical services performed in that state?
Yes. The physician's pension was earned through personal services performed in California, so tax paid there on the pension qualified for South Carolina's other-state tax credit. The credit could not …
When were municipal-bond fund dividends exempt from South Carolina income tax for South Carolina shareholders?
A fund series needed at least 50% of its assets in South Carolina-exempt securities to qualify to pay exempt-interest dividends under the ruling. The National Series, with about 10%, failed. A South C…
Did a parent company become taxable in South Carolina by owning a manufacturing subsidiary and performing sales, billing, purchasing, and invoicing services outside the state?
No, on the stated facts. Ownership, common officers, out-of-state sales support, billing, collection, purchasing, disbursing, and arm's-length invoicing did not make XYZ taxable when those services we…
Could a flat-glass manufacturer use an 11% annual property-tax depreciation rate for machinery instead of the statutory 9% schedule?
Yes, for XYZ's proposed flat-glass plant. Based on the company's evidence, a Property Tax Division visit, and information from plant design and construction firms, the Commission allowed an 11% annual…
Was interest on GNMA (Ginnie Mae) mortgage-backed securities exempt from South Carolina income tax as a U.S. obligation?
No. RR 87-4 held that interest from securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) was not exempt from South Carolina income tax, because a federal guarantee does n…
Was interest on Puerto Rico bonds taxable to South Carolina residents, whether held directly or received as exempt-interest dividends from a mutual fund?
No, it was exempt. RR 87-3 held that interest on Puerto Rico bonds was exempt from South Carolina income tax under 48 U.S.C. § 745, both when residents held the bonds directly and when it reached them…
Were tire-shredding machines exempt as processing machinery when they cut discarded tires into pieces before municipal landfill disposal?
No exemption applied. Cutting discarded tires into six segments for landfill disposal was not processing tangible personal property for sale. The Commission treated processing as preparing or converti…
Were a nonprofit-financed county jail and the interest paid to holders of lease-payment certificates exempt from South Carolina property and income tax?
Yes, conditionally. The jail qualified for the public-purpose property-tax exemption even with incidental office space. Interest paid to certificate holders was state-tax-exempt only if the IRS accept…
Did a South Carolina resident have to report his share of an out-of-state S corporation's income, and could he claim a credit for tax paid to the other state?
Partly. The resident started from federal taxable income (which already included his Subchapter S share), then modified out the S corporation income, losses, and deductions apportioned to the other st…
Was the transfer of South Carolina motor vehicles to a newly formed corporation by its principal stockholder exempt from the state's title excise tax?
Yes. Although the statute literally exempted only a transfer to a principal stockholder, RR 87-1 held the legislature intended to exempt motor vehicles transferred by a principal stockholder to a corp…
Where did the cigarette tax stamp belong when clove cigarettes were individually sealed but also sold in a self-contained box of twenty?
The stamp followed the smallest self-contained unit sold. If cigarettes were sold separately, each sealed individual container needed a stamp. If twenty were sold together as one self-contained packag…
Who was liable for South Carolina's historical tax on bingo proceeds, and could the Commission collect it from a promoter's bond?
The promoter and nonprofit organization were jointly and severally liable, with the promoter primarily liable. The Commission had to assess both and could levy against either party's bond for unpaid t…
Did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-13 impose the historical casual excise tax when a total-loss vehicle was transferred to an insurer in settlement of a claim?
No. A vehicle transferred to an insurance company in settlement of a total-loss claim was exempt from sales tax under the cited vehicle statute and therefore was not subject to the casual excise tax.
Who bore South Carolina's historical deed documentary tax, and how did it apply to foreclosure, government, and federal-entity conveyances?
The purchaser or grantee was primarily liable, with the seller a substitute only when collection from the purchaser was impractical. Transfers to exempt governments or listed federal entities were exe…
Which electricity used at South Carolina apartment complexes was exempt as residential use under Revenue Ruling 92-4?
Electricity for apartments, necessary common areas, and resident-only domestic amenities was exempt. Business areas were exempt only under central metering; separately metered business use and fee-bas…
Under South Carolina's 1989 sales-and-use-tax provisions, were facsimile, database-access, electronic-mail, credit-reporting, and voice-messaging services taxable communications?
Yes. Under the 1989 provisions quoted in the ruling, the listed services were subject to sales and use tax. The Commission treated the transmitted information or message and the means of transmitting …
Were university-owned land and fraternity-owned housing built on that leased land exempt from South Carolina property tax under PLR 97-3?
Yes under the stated facts. The public university's land was exempt as property of an institution of learning whose profits were not applied to private use. The fraternity corporation's separately own…
Did PLR 97-1 require a golf-cart manufacturer to collect sales tax when selling carts and dedicated chargers to golf courses that rented the carts?
No, when the golf course or country club bought the carts for taxable rental to patrons. The cart and its dedicated, included charger were one wholesale sale, and the facility owed tax on the rental f…
When could ZIP Company avoid South Carolina sales or use tax on machinery temporarily stored, repaired, and tested before shipment to a new factory in Mexico?
Tax generally applied unless the property qualified as manufacturing machinery or direct-use equipment, had substantial prior out-of-state use, or fit a statutory storage-for-out-of-state-use exclusio…
Did SC PLR 92-9 exempt the parts and components of a 410-foot power-plant chimney stack as manufacturing pollution-control machinery?
Yes. The ruling classified the described parts, attachments, and components of a 410-foot chimney stack as exempt manufacturing machines. Federal and state agencies had certified the taller stack as n…
Did SC PLR 92-8 exempt a bioabsorbable guided tissue regeneration dental device as a dental prosthetic device?
No. The guided tissue regeneration device helped periodontal tissue or bone regrow and could help prevent tooth loss, but it did not itself replace a missing body part. The ruling therefore did not cl…
How did SC PLR 92-7 treat a wholly owned qualified REIT subsidiary for corporate income tax, annual-report, and license-fee purposes?
The subsidiary was not a separate corporation for South Carolina income-tax purposes: its assets, liabilities, income, deductions, and credits were treated as the REIT parent's. But it still had to fi…
Did SC PLR 92-6 require the Patriot Model 5000 coin-operated breath-alcohol tester to carry the historical amusement-machine license?
No. The Patriot Model 5000 accepted two quarters and delivered an alcohol reading with a humorous voice comment, but the ruling found its primary purpose was customer and public safety—not amusement. …
How did SC PLR 92-5 apply sales tax and admissions tax to one ticket covering both a four-course meal and a live show?
The ticket was subject to both taxes, but a reasonable, documented allocation could separate the bases: sales tax applied to the meal portion and admissions tax to the entertainment portion. If the op…
Did SC PLR 92-4 exempt prescription-only TENS pain-relief devices from sales and use tax as medicine or prosthetic devices?
No. The ruling treated TENS electrical nerve stimulators sold or leased by ABC Medical as taxable tangible personal property even when prescribed by a physician. They were devices rather than medicine…
Were Westinghouse Savannah River Company's purchases for its federal Savannah River Site contract exempt from South Carolina sales and use tax?
Yes, when Westinghouse Savannah River Company bought tangible personal property on behalf of the federal government under the described Department of Energy contract. The ruling relied on federal titl…
Did SC PLR 92-2 require a city redevelopment commission created under the Community Development Law to file a corporate annual report and pay the corporate license fee?
No. Although the historical corporate-license chapter did not expressly list this redevelopment commission among its exemptions, the Tax Commission had long treated public corporations as outside the …
How did SC PLR 92-1 treat a couple who moved from Wisconsin to South Carolina with a stock-loss carryover and installment gain from stock sold before the move?
For the anonymized couple's 1991 facts, South Carolina allowed either a full-year resident return or the statutory nonresident-method election for a part-year resident. Their stock-loss carryover equa…
Did SC PLR 91-6 treat ABC as a manufacturer or contractor when it prefabricated site-specific building framing packages?
ABC was a contractor, not a manufacturer, because it fabricated each framing package for its own construction work at a specific site rather than regularly producing property for sale to others. Sales…
How did SC PLR 91-5 compute admissions tax on the joint XYZ Club membership, and which club had to remit it?
Before April 1, 1992, the ruling taxed $102.50 of a $175 ABC-member payment and $75 of a $175 B Club-member payment after removing the dining-club and bona fide social portions. On or after April 1, 1…
Which components of ABC's high-purity water treatment system did SC PLR 91-1 treat as exempt manufacturing machines?
The ruling exempted the water-purification and process-delivery components—including carbon filters, chemical feed, ion exchangers, DI tanks and pumps, polishing equipment, hot and cold subloops, rege…
What local sales-tax changes and exemption rules does South Carolina's March 2026 chart identify for counties, municipalities, and the Catawba Reservation?
Effective March 1, 2026, the Department's charts add a new 1% Williamsburg County Capital Projects Tax beginning May 1, extend Lexington County's 1% School District Tax from March 1, and show Aiken Co…
When does South Carolina's Infrastructure Maintenance Fee apply instead of sales and use tax, and how are boat, farm, and utility trailers now treated?
The Infrastructure Maintenance Fee (IMF) -- 5% of the sale price or fair market value, capped at $500 -- applies instead of sales and use tax when an item must be titled or registered with the SC DMV;…
When are a wholesaler's sales of beer or wine to the military exempt from South Carolina beer and wine tax, and how are they reported?
Beer and wine sold to the U.S. Government (or a U.S. Government instrumentality) for Army, Navy, Marine, or Air Force purposes are exempt from South Carolina beer and wine tax under S.C. Code Ann. § 1…
Is durable medical equipment (DME) still exempt from South Carolina sales and use tax after the Orthofix decision?
No. Durable medical equipment (DME) is no longer exempt in South Carolina. In Orthofix, Inc. v. S.C. Department of Revenue (final June 26, 2024), the South Carolina Supreme Court held the DME exemptio…
Which South Carolina local sales and use taxes and exemptions applied beginning March 1, 2024, including on the Catawba Reservation?
SC Information Letter #24-1 provides the Department's local-tax and exemption charts effective March 1, 2024. It reflects reimposed 1% taxes in Horry, Newberry, and Spartanburg Counties; explains whic…
Which South Carolina local sales and use taxes and exemptions applied beginning May 1, 2023, including on the Catawba Reservation?
SC Information Letter #23-4 provides local-tax and exemption charts effective May 1, 2023, superseding Information Letter #23-1. It adds Beaufort County's 1% Green Space Tax, reflects reimposed 1% tax…
Which South Carolina local sales and use taxes and exemptions applied beginning March 1, 2023, including on the Catawba Reservation?
SC Information Letter #23-1 provides local-tax and exemption charts effective March 1, 2023. It adds Berkeley County's 1% Education Capital Improvements Tax and previews five May 1 county changes. It …
When does South Carolina's Infrastructure Maintenance Fee apply to a vehicle instead of sales tax, and how are watercraft motors taxed after July 1, 2022?
If a vehicle or item must be titled or registered with the SC Department of Motor Vehicles, South Carolina charges a 5% Infrastructure Maintenance Fee (IMF), capped at $500, instead of sales tax — and…
Which state sales tax exemptions apply to each South Carolina county's local sales and use taxes and the Catawba tribal tax, as of July 1, 2022?
SC Information Letter #22-16 is the Department's reference package of charts showing, county by county, which local sales and use taxes South Carolina collects and which state exemptions apply to each…
Which South Carolina local sales and use taxes and exemptions applied beginning May 1, 2021, including on the Catawba Reservation?
SC Information Letter #21-6 provides the Department's local-tax and exemption charts effective May 1, 2021. It reflects that Hampton County's Capital Projects Tax expired (no longer imposed May 1, 202…
Which exemptions applied to South Carolina local and Catawba sales taxes beginning January 1, 2022?
Effective January 1, 2022, SC Information Letter #21-30 provided charts showing which local sales and use taxes the Department collected for counties, municipalities, school districts, and the Catawba…
Which South Carolina local sales and use taxes and exemptions applied beginning May 1, 2020, including on the Catawba Reservation?
SC Information Letter #20-2 provides the Department's local-tax and exemption charts effective May 1, 2020. It reflects that Orangeburg County's Capital Projects Tax, set to expire April 30, 2020, was…
What local sales and use taxes and Catawba tribal tax rates does South Carolina collect effective May 1, 2019 (per SC IL #19-9)?
SC Information Letter #19-9 provides three charts, effective May 1, 2019, of the local sales and use taxes the Department collects for counties, municipalities, school districts, and the Catawba India…
What local sales and use taxes and Catawba tribal tax rates does South Carolina collect effective March 1, 2017 (per SC IL #17-2)?
SC Information Letter #17-2 provides three charts, effective March 1, 2017, of the local sales and use taxes the Department collects for counties, municipalities, school districts, and the Catawba Ind…
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These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by South Carolina's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.