South Carolina § 9-1-1160 - Collection of members' contributions; failure to make payroll reports and remittances; employer to pay required member contributions on earnings after July 1, 1982; tax treatment; funding; retirement treatment.

§ 9-1-1160. Collection of members' contributions; failure to make payroll reports and remittances; employer to pay required member contributions on earnings after July 1, 1982; tax treatment; funding; retirement treatment.

(A) The collection of members' contributions must be as follows:

Each employer shall deduct on each payroll of a member the contributions payable by the member as provided in this section. The chief fiscal officer of the employer shall draw his warrant for the amount to be deducted, payable to the Retirement System, on a monthly basis, and shall transmit the warrant together with a schedule of the contributions on forms prescribed by the board, which is due in the office of the Retirement System no later than the last day of the month following the close of each month for the preceding month. If any employer fails to do so or arrears exist at any time in making monthly remittances required by this section and by regulations of the board, the monthly compensation of any person or officer of any employer charged with the responsibility of making monthly payroll reports and remittances to the system must be withheld by the employer until all required reports and remittances have been made. The system shall furnish monthly to the disbursing officers of each employer a statement of any failure to make payroll reports and remittances and the names of the persons or officers failing to make the reports and remittances.

A person failing to transmit the contributions deducted in the manner required in this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(B) Each department and political subdivision shall pick up the employee contributions required by this section for all compensation paid on or after July 1, 1982, and the contributions picked up must be treated as employer contributions in determining federal tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code. Each department and political subdivision shall continue to withhold federal income taxes based upon these contributions until the Internal Revenue Service, or the federal courts, rule, pursuant to Section 414(h) of the United States Internal Revenue Code, that these contributions are not included as gross income of the employee until such time as they are distributed or made available. The department and political subdivision shall pay these employee contributions from the same source of funds which is used in paying earnings to the employee. The department and political subdivision may pick up these contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the employee. Employee contributions picked up must be treated for all purposes of this section in the same manner and to the extent as employee contributions made before the date picked up.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 61-78; 1952 Code SECTION 61-78; 1945 (44) 212; 1949 (46) 424; 1951 (47) 518; 1959 (51) 15; 1960 (51) 1522; 1976 Act No. 709 Part II SECTION 19; 1982 Act No. 315, SECTION 2; 1982 Act No. 349, SECTION 2; 1985 Act No. 201, Part II, SECTION 47A; 1993 Act No. 184 SECTION 149, eff January 1, 1994.