South Carolina § 12-37-2860 - Property tax exemptions; one-time fees.

§ 12-37-2860. Property tax exemptions; one-time fees.

(A) In addition to the property tax exemptions allowed pursuant to Section 12-37-220, one hundred percent of the fair market value of semitrailers and trailers as defined in Section 12-37-2810, and commonly used in combination with a large commercial motor vehicle, as defined pursuant to Section 12-37-2810, is exempt from property tax.

(B) Instead of any property tax and the registration requirements provided in Sections 56-3-110 and 56-3-700 on semitrailers and trailers of motor carriers as defined in Section 12-37-2810, and commonly used in combination with a large commercial motor vehicle, a one-time fee payable to the Department of Motor Vehicles in the amount of eighty-seven dollars is imposed on all semitrailers and trailers currently registered and subsequently on each semitrailer and trailer before being placed in service.

(C) The fee imposed pursuant to subsection (B) and the registration requirements of this article are in lieu of any local road use fee, registration fees, or any other vehicle-related fee imposed by a political subdivision of this State on a trailer or semitrailer.

(D) Twelve dollars of the one-time fee must be distributed to the Department of Motor Vehicles and may be retained by the Department of Motor Vehicles and expended in budgeted operations to record and administer the fee. The remaining seventy-five dollars of the fee must be distributed based on the distribution formula provided in Sections 12-37-2865 and 12-37-2870, and must occur by the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the fees are collected.

(E) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall design a permanent tag for display on the exterior of the rear of the trailer or semitrailer in a conspicuous place.

(F) If the South Carolina registration fees of a large commercial motor vehicle or bus and the road use fees for large commercial motor vehicles required under this chapter are assessed, the fees may be remitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles quarterly in installments, provided that each installment is made online. A motor carrier who fails to make a quarterly installment payment on a timely basis may no longer make installment payments and must remit to the department the balance of the fees owed for any previous calendar year before the Department of Motor Vehicles will renew registration for the current calendar year. A motor carrier that opts out of installment payments must make full payment of fees at the time of registration.

HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 461, SECTION 1; 1997 Act No. 125, SECTION 1F; 1998 Act No. 432, SECTION 12; 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), SECTION 8.A, eff January 1, 2019; 2021 Act No. 37 (H.3689), SECTION 8.A, eff July 1, 2024.

Code Commissioner's Note

Pursuant to the direction to the Code Commissioner in 2003 Act No. 51, SECTION 18, "Department of Public Safety" was changed to "Department of Motor Vehicles" in subsections (A) and (D).

Editor's Note

2017 Act No. 40, SECTIONS 8.L, 8.M, provide as follows:

"L. (1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary within this SECTION, a person who registers a vehicle for use in this State pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12, as amended by this act, must register his vehicle during calendar year 2019 and is required to pay the road fees calculated based on the fair market value of the vehicle as specified in Sections 12-37-2820 and 12-37-2850 at the time the vehicle's registration fees are paid.

"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 12-37-2865(B) and (C), as contained in this SECTION, to the contrary, during calendar year 2019, the first four hundred thousand dollars of fee revenue collected pursuant to Section 12-37-2865 must be retained by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray programming costs.

"(3) The initial millage required by Section 12-37-2850 must be calculated on or before June 1, 2018.

"M. This SECTION takes effect January 1, 2019, except that the Department of Revenue, in consultation with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, shall calculate the millage to be used to calculate the road use fee provided in Section 12-37-2850 by July 1, 2018."

2021 Act No. 37, SECTION 8.B, provides as follows:

"[SECTION 8.]B. This SECTION takes effect on the first day of the fiscal year that begins twenty-four months after the program is fully funded."

The program was fully funded as of July 1, 2022.

Effect of Amendment

2017 Act No. 40, SECTION 8.A, rewrote the section, providing that one hundred percent of the fair market value of semitrailers and trailers is exempt from property tax.

2021 Act No. 37, SECTION 8.A, in (F), in the first sentence, substituted "South Carolina registration fees" for "apportioned registration fees", "assessed" for "equal to or exceed four hundred dollars", and inserted "in installments," following "quarterly", and in the second sentence, substituted "quarterly installment payment" for "quarterly payment".