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The department may revoke the exemption granted by the registration provided in this item if it determines that the nonresident taxpayer is not cooperating with the department in the determination of the nonresident taxpayer's correct South Carolina tax liability. The revocation does not revive the duty of a person renting from or having a royalty contract with a nonresident to withhold until the person receives notice of the revocation."

SECTION 95. Section 12-8-550 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 76 of 1995, is amended to read:

"Section 12-8-550. A person hiring or contracting with a nonresident conducting a business or performing personal services of a temporary nature within this State shall withhold two percent of each payment in which the South Carolina portion of the contract exceeds or could reasonably be expected to exceed ten thousand dollars. This item does not apply to a nonresident which registered with the Secretary of State Governor or the Department of Revenue and Taxation and by that registration has agreed to be subject to the jurisdiction of the department and the courts of this State to determine its South Carolina tax liability, including withholding and estimated taxes, together with any related interest and penalties, if any. Registering with the Secretary of State Governor or the department is not an admission of tax liability nor must this act of registering be construed to require the filing of an income tax or franchise (license) tax return. If the person hiring, contracting, or having a contract with a nonresident obtains an affidavit from the nonresident stating that the nonresident is registered with the department or with the Secretary of State Governor, the person is not responsible for the withholding.

The department may revoke the exemption granted by registering with the Secretary of State Governor or the department if it determines that the nonresident taxpayer is not cooperating with the department in the determination of the nonresident taxpayer's correct South Carolina tax liability. This revocation does not revive the duty of a person hiring,

SECTION 96. Section 12-20-30 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 76 of 1995, is amended to read:

"Section 12-20-30. (A) The annual report must be in a form prescribed by the department and Secretary of State Governor and contain all information that the department or the Secretary of State Governor may require for the administration of the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of Title 33. The information in the annual report must be current as of the date the annual report is executed on behalf of the corporation and contain the following information:

(1) the name of the corporation and the state or country of incorporation;

(2) the address of the registered office and the name of the registered agent in this State;

(3) the address of the principal office;

(4) the names and business addresses of the directors and principal officers;

(5) a brief description of the nature of the business;

(6) the total number of authorized shares of stock, itemized by class and series, if any, within each class; and

(7) the total number of issued and outstanding shares of stock, itemized by class and series, if any, within each class.

The information required by this subsection is open to unrestricted public inspection. Any person may request a copy of the information from either the Secretary of State Governor or the department.

(B) The Secretary of State Governor or the department may by regulation permit the public disclosure of other information that is required to be filed as part of the corporation's annual report in addition to the information required by subsection (A)."

SECTION 97. Section 12-20-40 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 76 of 1995, is amended to read:

"Section 12-20-40. (A) An initial annual report and the minimum license fee required by Sections 12-20-50 and 12-20-100(C) must be filed with the Secretary of State Governor with the initial articles of incorporation filed by a domestic corporation or an application for certificate of authority filed by a foreign corporation. The initial annual report must be submitted to the department by the Secretary of State Governor and contain the information required in Section 12-20-30(A).

(B) A corporation that does not file an application for certificate of authority with the Secretary of State Governor shall file the initial annual

SECTION 98. Section 12-28-1505(A)(3)(b) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 136 of 1995, is amended to read:

"(b) receives from the Secretary of State department a verification number authorizing the diversion;"

SECTION 99. Section 12-49-90 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 228, Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-49-90. The courts of this State shall recognize and enforce liabilities for taxation lawfully imposed by other states which extend like comity to this State. The South Carolina Department of Revenue and Taxation, with the assistance of the Attorney General, is hereby empowered to bring suit in the courts of other states to collect taxes legally due this State. The officials of other states which extend a like comity to this State are empowered to sue for the collection of such taxes in the courts of this State. A certificate by the Secretary of State Governor that such officers have authority to collect the tax shall be conclusive evidence of such authority."

SECTION 100. Section 12-54-125 of the 1976 Code, as added by Section 8, Act 444 of 1988, is further amended to read:

"Section 12-54-125. If, upon investigation, the commission department determines that any corporation which has been dissolved by the Secretary of State Department of Commerce has not conducted any business since the last return was filed with the commission department, or if there are no available assets of the corporation, the commission may deem that warrants of distraint issued against the corporation were issued in error and may withdraw them."

SECTION 101. Section 13-7-145 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 13-7-145. A. Any shipper who is not a resident of South Carolina and who is not registered with the Secretary of State Attorney General for purposes of doing business within South Carolina shall be subject to service of process for purposes of administering and enforcing this article by leaving a copy of the summons or any other legal paper in the hands of the Secretary of State Attorney General or in his office, and such service shall be deemed sufficient service and shall have like force and effect in all respects as service upon citizens of this State found within its limits if notice of such service and a copy of the paper served are forthwith sent by certified mail to the shipper and the shipper's return receipt and an affidavit of compliance therewith are filed in the cause and

Such service may also be made by delivery of a copy thereof to any such shipper outside the State, and proof of such delivery may be made by the affidavit of the person delivering such copy. Such affidavit shall be filed in the cause and submitted to the administrative agency or court from which the process or other paper issued.

B. Any carrier who is not a resident of South Carolina and who is not registered with the Secretary of State Attorney General for purposes of doing business within South Carolina shall be subject to service of process for purposes of administering and enforcing this article by leaving a copy of the summons or any other legal paper in the hands of the Secretary of State Attorney General or in his office, and such service shall be deemed sufficient service and shall have like force and effect in all respects as service upon citizens of this State found within its limits if notice of such service and a copy of the paper served are forthwith sent by certified mail to the carrier and the carrier's return receipt and an affidavit of compliance therewith are filed in the cause and submitted to the administrative agency or court from which such process or other paper issued.

Such service may also be made by delivery of a copy thereof to any such carrier outside the State, and proof of such delivery may be made by the affidavit of the person delivering such copy. Such affidavit shall be filed in the cause and submitted to the administrative agency or court from which the process or other paper issued."

SECTION 102. Section 13-12-15 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 1, Act 518 of 1992, is further amended to read:

"Section 13-12-15. Upon the implementation of the provisions of this chapter, should only two of the three counties of Berkeley, Dorchester, and Charleston have elected to participate by approval of the initial referendum, the governing body of the nonparticipating county may thereafter call a referendum in such county on the question of participation in the authority. After one referendum has been held under the provisions of this section, no more than one such referendum may thereafter be held within a two year period. The referendum question shall read as follows:

`Shall [insert name of county] join in the Trident Economic Development Finance Authority which shall have the power, among other things, with the approval of the governing bodies of Berkeley, Dorchester,

Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square before the word `Yes', and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square before the word `No'.'

If this question receives a majority of the votes cast in the county, as certified by the Board of State Canvassers, the jurisdictional area of the authority shall be expanded to include the approving county on the date on which written evidence of this fact is transmitted to the Secretary of State Governor."

SECTION 103. Section 14-5-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 14-5-110. The circuit judges of this State, upon their election, shall qualify by taking the oath required by the Constitution of this State before a justice of the Supreme Court, the President of the Senate, the Speaker or Speaker Emeritus of the House of Representatives, a circuit judge, a clerk of the Supreme Court, a clerk of the court of common pleas or a probate judge of the county, and shall forthwith enter upon their duties. Such oath must be filed in the office of the Secretary of State Governor. Terms of office for all circuit judges elected after January 1, 1977, shall commence as of July first of the year in which they are elected."

SECTION 104. Section 14-11-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 4, Part II, Act 678 of 1988, is further amended to read:

"Section 14-11-20. Masters-in-equity must be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the General Assembly for a term of six years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. No person is eligible to hold the office of master-in-equity who is not at the time of his appointment a citizen of the United States and of this State, has not attained the age of twenty-six years upon his appointment, has not been a licensed attorney for at least five years upon his appointment, and has not been a resident of this State for five years immediately preceding his appointment.

Each master-in-equity of this State qualifies by taking the oath required by the Constitution of this State before a justice of the Supreme Court, a judge of the Court of Appeals, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a circuit judge, the Clerk of the Supreme Court, a clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, or a probate judge of the

A full-time master-in-equity is prohibited from engaging in the practice of law. A part-time master-in-equity may practice law but is prohibited from appearing before another master-in-equity. A standing master-in-equity may not serve as the probate judge of any county."

SECTION 105. Section 14-17-340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 14-17-340. The clerk shall administer the oaths of office required to be taken by magistrates appointed within his county, on their application, within ninety days after such appointment. On the first day of November, annually, he shall transmit a list of the names of magistrates who have qualified during the preceding year to the office of the Secretary of State Governor at Columbia."

SECTION 106. Section 15-9-245 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 4, Act 384 of 1994, is further amended to read:

"Section 15-9-245. (a) Every foreign business or nonprofit corporation which is not authorized to do business in this State, by doing in this State, either itself or through an agent, any business, including any business activity for which authority need not be obtained as provided by Section 33-15-101, is considered to have designated the Secretary of State Attorney General as its agent upon whom process against it may be served in any action or proceeding arising in any court in this State out of or in connection with the doing of any business in this State.

(b) Service of the process is made by delivering to and leaving with the Secretary of State Attorney General, or with any person designated by him to receive such service, duplicate copies of the process, notice, or demand. The Secretary of State Attorney General immediately shall cause one of the copies to be forwarded by certified mail, addressed to the corporation either at its registered office in the jurisdiction of its incorporation, its principal place of business in the jurisdiction, or at the last address of the foreign business or nonprofit corporation known to the plaintiff, in that order.

(c) Proof of service must be by affidavit of compliance with this section and filed, together with a copy of the process, with the clerk of court in which the action or proceeding is pending. There must be filed with the affidavit of compliance the return receipt signed by the foreign business or nonprofit corporation or other official proof of delivery or, if acceptance was refused, there must be filed the original or a photostated or certified copy of the envelope with a notation by the postal authorities that acceptance was refused. If acceptance was refused, a copy of the

(d) Service under this section may be made also by delivery of a copy of the process to any foreign business or nonprofit corporation outside the State. Proof of the delivery must be made by affidavit of the person making delivery, and the affidavit must be filed with the clerk of court in which the action or proceeding is pending.

(e) The Secretary of State Attorney General shall charge a fee of ten dollars for the service.

(f) This section does not prescribe the only means, or necessarily the required means, of serving a foreign business or nonprofit corporation not authorized to do business in this State."

SECTION 107. Section 15-9-250 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 15-9-250. Service of process may be made upon the Secretary of State Attorney General as agent for a foreign rural electric cooperative pursuant to his appointment as such under the provisions of Section 33-49-1320. In the event of such service, the Secretary of State Attorney General shall forthwith forward it by registered mail to such corporation at the address specified in the instrument appointing the Secretary of State Attorney General as such agent."

SECTION 108. Section 15-9-280 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Sections 260-262, Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"Section 15-9-280. (a) Any act of transacting an insurance business as set forth in Section 38-25-110 by an unauthorized insurer is equivalent to and constitutes an irrevocable appointment by the insurer, binding upon him, his executor or administrator, or successor in interest if a corporation, of the Secretary of State Attorney General or his successor in office to be the true and lawful attorney of the insurer upon whom may be served all lawful process in any action, suit, or proceeding in any court by the Director of the Department of Insurance or his designee, or by the State and upon whom may be served any notice, order, pleading, or process in any proceeding before the Department of Insurance and which arises out of transacting an insurance business in this State by the insurer. Any act of transacting an insurance business in this State by an unauthorized insurer is signification of its agreement that any such lawful

(b) Service of process in such action is made by delivering to and leaving with the Secretary of State Attorney General, or some person in apparent charge of his office, two copies thereof and by payment to the Secretary of State Attorney General of the fee prescribed by law. Service upon the Secretary of State Attorney General as attorney is service upon the principal.

(c) The Secretary of State shall immediately forward by certified mail one of the copies of the process or the notice, order, pleading, or process in proceedings before the Department of Insurance to the defendant in the court proceeding or to whom the notice, order, pleading, or process in the administrative proceeding is addressed or directed at its last known principal place of business and shall keep a record of all process so served on him which shall show the day and hour of service. The service is sufficient if:

(1) notice of the service and a copy of the court process or the notice, order, pleading, or process in the administrative proceeding are sent within ten days thereafter by certified mail by the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney in the court proceeding or by the Department of Insurance in the administrative proceeding to the defendant in the court proceeding or to whom the notice, order, pleading, or process in the administrative proceeding is addressed or directed at the last known principal place of business of the defendant in the court or administrative proceeding; and

(2) the defendant's receipt or receipts issued by the post office with which the letter is registered, showing the name of the sender of the letter and the name and address of the person or insurer to whom the letter is addressed, and an affidavit of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney in a court proceeding or of the Department of Insurance in an administrative proceeding, showing compliance therewith, are filed with the clerk of court in which the action, suit, or proceeding is pending or with the Department of Insurance in administrative proceedings, by the date the defendant in the court or administrative proceeding is required to appear or respond thereto, or within any further time as the court or the Department of Insurance may allow.

(d) No plaintiff is entitled to a judgment by default, a judgment with leave to prove damages, or a judgment pro confesso in any court or administrative proceeding in which court process or notice, order,

(e) Nothing in this section limits or affects the right to serve any process, notice, order, or demand upon any person or insurer in any other manner permitted by law."

SECTION 109. Section 15-9-430 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 5, Act 384 of 1994, is further amended to read:

"Section 15-9-430. (a) Each director of a domestic business corporation who is a nonresident of this State at the time of his election or who becomes a nonresident during his term in office, shall by his acceptance of election or by continuing in office as director, be deemed to have appointed the Secretary of State Attorney General as an agent to receive service of process upon him in any action or proceeding relating to actions of such corporation and arising while he held office as director of such corporation.

(b) Service of such process shall be made by delivering to and leaving with the Secretary of State Attorney General, or with any person designated by him to receive such service, duplicate copies of such process. The Secretary of State Attorney General shall thereupon immediately cause one of such copies to be forwarded to the nonresident director by certified mail. Proof of service shall be by affidavit of compliance with this section filed, together with a copy of the process, with the clerk of court in which the action or proceeding is pending.

(c) Service under this section may also be made by delivery of a copy of the process to the nonresident director at his address outside the State. Proof of such delivery shall be made by affidavit of the person making delivery and the affidavit shall be filed with the clerk of court in which the action or proceeding is pending.

(d) The resignation in good faith of any nonresident director, effective as of the date of filing with the Secretary of State Attorney General a notice of his resignation, shall terminate the application to him of the provisions of this section, except for any cause of action already accrued.

(e) Every domestic business corporation which has any director who is or becomes a nonresident of this State after the corporation has filed its most recent annual report pursuant to Section 12-19-20 shall file with the Secretary of State Attorney General the names and addresses of its directors and shall file supplementary reports showing any change of address or residence of any director. The reports must be filed within ten days from the date of election, removal from this State, or change of address of any director. The Secretary of State Attorney General shall

(f) The Secretary of State Attorney General shall charge a fee of ten dollars to accompany service thereunder."

SECTION 110. Section 15-9-440 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 15-9-440. (1) Service on resident trustee constitutes service on all other trustees. -Service upon one resident trustee of an inter vivos trust shall constitute service on all other trustees, resident and nonresident, of the same trust, for the purpose of adjudicating any action or proceeding in a court of this State involving, directly or indirectly, such trust.

(2) Trustee served to notify other trustees. -The resident trustee, so served, shall within five days, give prompt notice to such nonresident trustee and other resident trustee of the action. The failure of notification to the other trustees shall in no way impair the action.

(3) Service on nonresident trustee when there is no resident trustee. -When there is no resident trustee, the nonresident trustee of an inter vivos trust shall be deemed to have consented to the service of any summons, notice or other legal process in connection with any proceeding in the courts of this State involving such trust, directly or indirectly, when served upon the Secretary of State Attorney General, when the trust was created under the laws of this State or, in the case of a foreign trust, when part of the trust property is situated in this State.

(4) Time allowed for answer. -The time within which to answer under the provisions of this section shall be the same as that provided for by law for substituted service.

(5) Penalties. -Any trustee responsible for notifying another trustee, who fails to comply with the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days."

SECTION 111. Section 15-9-460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 15-9-460. Service of process on any person who shall have appointed the Secretary of State Attorney General as his agent to accept

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