A bill

to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by adding Section 12-6-3810 so as to PROVIDE FOR AN INCOME TAX CREDIT TO AN INDIVIDUAL OR BUSINESS THAT CONSTRUCTS, PURCHASES, OR LEASES CERTAIN SOLAR ENERGY PROPERTY AND PLACES IT IN SERVICE IN THIS STATE, AND TO PROVIDE A DEFINITION OF "SOLAR ENERGY PROPERTY".

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.   Article 25, Chapter 6, Title 12 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

   Section 12-6-3810.   (A)   A taxpayer who constructs, purchases, or leases solar energy property located on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priority List, National Priority List Equivalent Sites, or on a list of related removal actions, as certified by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, located in the State of South Carolina, and places it in service in this State during the taxable year, is allowed an income tax credit equal to twenty-five percent of the cost, including the cost of installation, of the property. The credit is earned in the year in which the solar energy property is placed in service, but must be taken in five equal annual installments, beginning in the year in which the solar energy property is placed in service. Unused credit may be carried forward for five taxable years from the year in which the credit was able to be taken. A lessor shall give a taxpayer who leases solar energy property from him a statement that describes the solar energy property and states the cost of the property upon request. A credit is not allowed pursuant to this section to the extent the cost of the solar energy property is provided by public funds. For purposes of this section, "public funds" does not include federal grants or tax credits.

   (B)   If the solar energy property with respect to which the credit was claimed is disposed of, taken out of service, or moved out of the State in a year in which the installment of a credit accrues, then the credit expires and the taxpayer may not take any remaining installments of the credit.

   (C)   A credit for each installation of solar energy property placed in service may not exceed two million five hundred thousand dollars. The credit is allowed on a first come, first served basis, and the total amount of credits available to be taken, pursuant to the five equal annual installments, for all taxpayers in a taxable year, may not exceed two million five hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate.

   (D)   A taxpayer who claims any other state credit allowed with respect to solar energy property may not take the credit allowed in this section with respect to the same property. A taxpayer may not take the credit allowed in this section for solar energy property the taxpayer leases from another unless the taxpayer obtains the lessor's written certification that the lessor will not claim a credit pursuant to this section with respect to the property.

   (E)   The Department of Revenue may promulgate regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

   (F)   For purposes of this section, "solar energy property" means any nonresidential solar energy equipment with a nameplate capacity of at least one thousand nine hundred kilowatts (1,900 kw AC) that uses solar radiation as a substitute for traditional energy for water heating, active space heating and cooling, passive heating, daylighting, generating electricity, distillation, desalination, detoxification, or the production of industrial or commercial process heat. The term also includes related devices necessary for collecting, storing, exchanging, conditioning, or converting solar energy to other useful forms of energy.

SECTION 2.   Upon approval by the Governor, this act takes effect in income tax years beginning after 2022. The provisions of this act are repealed on December 31, 2024, except that if the credit allowed by Section 12-6-3810, as added by this act, is earned before the repeal, the provisions of Section 12-6-3810 continue to apply until the credits have been fully claimed.

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