Current Status Bill Number:4553 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19980129 Primary Sponsor:McLeod All Sponsors:McLeod Drafted Document Number:dka\4709mm.98 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Ways and Means Committee 30 HWM Subject:Business license tax, counties or municipal corporations to impose by ordinance fee in lieu of; Political Subdivisions
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
House 19980129 Introduced, read first time, 30 HWM
referred to Committee
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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.