S.C. Code § 12-37-2650

Current through 2024 Act No. 225.

Section 12-37-2650 - Issuance of tax notices and paid receipts; delegation of collection of taxes

(A) Each county auditor shall prepare a tax notice of all vehicles, except for vehicles described in Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12, owned by the same person and licensed at the same time for each tax year within the two-year licensing period. A notice must describe the motor vehicle by name, model, and identification number. The notice must set forth the assessed value of the vehicle, the millage, the taxes due on each vehicle, and the license period or tax year. The notice must be delivered to the county treasurer who must collect or receive payment of the taxes. One copy of the notice must be in the form of a bill or statement for the taxes due on the motor vehicle and, when practical, the treasurer shall mail that copy to the owner or person having control of the vehicle. When the tax and all other charges included on the tax bill have been paid, the treasurer shall issue the taxpayer a paid receipt. The receipt or a copy may be delivered by the taxpayer to the Department of Motor Vehicles with the application for the motor vehicle registration. A record of the payment of the tax must be retained by the treasurer. The auditor shall maintain a separate duplicate for motor vehicles. A registration may not be issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles unless the application is accompanied by the receipt, a copy of the notification required by Section 12-37-2610 or notice from the county treasurer, by other means satisfactory to the Department of Motor Vehicles, of payment of the tax. Large commercial motor vehicles and buses, as defined in Section 12-37-2810, must pay road use fees pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12 in lieu of ad valorem property taxes. The treasurer, tax collector, or other official charged with the collection of ad valorem property taxes in each county may delegate the collection of motor vehicle taxes to banks or banking institutions, if each institution assigns, hypothecates, or pledges to the county, as security for the collection, federal funds or federal, state, or municipal securities in an amount adequate to prevent any loss to the county from any cause. Each institution shall remit the taxes collected daily to the county official charged with the collections. The receipt given to the taxpayer, in addition to the information required in this section and by Section 12-45-70, must contain the name and office of the treasurer or tax collector of the county and must also show the name of the banking institution to which payment was made.

(B) The county official charged with the collection of taxes shall send a list of the institutions collecting the taxes to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Each institution shall certify to the Department of Motor Vehicles that the taxes have been paid, and the Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to accept certification in lieu of the tax receipt given to the taxpayer if certification contains information required by this section.

(C) Tax bills (notices) for county assessed personal property valued in accordance with applicable Department of Revenue regulations must include notification of the taxpayer's appeal rights, to include a minimum amount of information of how the taxpayer should file his appeal, to whom, and within what time period.

(D) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall mail a notice to registrants of large commercial motor vehicles who no longer receive bills from counties that their road use fee will be due to the department at their next renewal cycle instead of paying taxes or fees to the county in which the vehicle is registered.

S.C. Code § 12-37-2650

Amended by 2021 S.C. Acts, Act No. 37 (HB 3689),s 5.A, eff. the first day of the fiscal year that begins twenty-four months after the program is fully funded.

Amended by 2017 S.C. Acts, Act No. 40 (HB 3516), s 8, eff. 1/1/2019.

2005 Act No. 145, Section 47, eff 6/7/2005; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 12; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 211; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22SS; 1992 Act No. 361, Section 21; 1988 Act No. 576; 1987 Act No. 188, Section 2; 1983 Act No. 23 Section 1; 1980 Act No. 432, Section 3; 1980 Act No. 405, Section 6.

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 5.B, provides as follows:

"[SECTION 5.]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.