South Carolina § 12-44-90 - Filing of returns, contracts, and other information; due date of payments and returns.

§ 12-44-90. Filing of returns, contracts, and other information; due date of payments and returns.

(A) The sponsor shall file returns, contracts, and other information which may be required by the department.

(B) Fee payments, and returns showing investments and calculating fee payments, are due at the same time as property tax payments and property tax returns are due.

(C) Failure to make a timely fee payment and file required returns results in penalties being assessed as if the payment or return were a property tax payment or return.

(D) The department may issue rulings and promulgate regulations as necessary to carry out the purpose of this section.

(E) The provisions of Chapters 4 and 54, Title 12, applicable to property taxes, apply to this section, and for purposes of the application, the fee is considered a property tax. Section 12-54-155 does not apply to this section.

(F) The provisions of Chapters 49, 51, and 53, Title 12 apply to a fee agreement and a fee due under the agreement. For purposes of those chapters, the fee is considered a property tax.

(G) Within thirty days of the date of execution of a fee agreement, a copy of the fee agreement must be filed with the department, the county assessor, and the county auditor for the county in which the project is located. If the project is located in an industrial development park, the fee agreement must be filed with the auditors and assessors for all counties participating in the industrial development park.

(H) The department, for good cause, may allow additional time for filing of returns required under this chapter. The request for an extension may be granted only if the request is filed with the department on or before the date the return is due. However, the extension must not exceed sixty days from the date the return is due. The department shall develop applicable forms and procedures for handling and processing extension requests. An extension may not be granted to a sponsor who has been granted an extension for a previous period and has not fulfilled the requirements of the previous period.

(I) To the extent a form or a return is filed with the department, the sponsor must file a copy of the form or return with the county auditor, assessor, and treasurer of the county or counties in which the project is located. To the extent requested, the county auditor of the county in which the project is physically located shall make these forms and returns available to any county auditor of a county participating in an industrial development park in which the project is located.

(J) Upon the direction of the governing body of the county, a county official may request and obtain such financial books and records from a sponsor that support the sponsor's fee in lieu of taxes return as may be reasonably necessary to verify the calculations of the sponsor's fee in lieu of taxes payment or the calculations of the sponsor's special source revenue credit.

HISTORY: 1997 Act No. 149, SECTION 1; 2002 Act No. 334, SECTION 2, eff June 24, 2002; 2003 Act No. 69, SECTION 3.AAA.1, eff January 1, 2003; 2012 Act No. 187, SECTION 6, eff June 7, 2012.