South Carolina General Assembly
106th Session, 1985-1986

Bill 91


                    Current Status

Bill Number:               91
Ratification Number:       8
Act Number:                5
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                        Levy of the accommodations tax,
                           rental units
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A5, R8, S91)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 12-35-710, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE LEVY OF THE ACCOMMODATIONS TAX, SO AS TO REQUIRE TAXPAYERS OWNING OR MANAGING RENTAL UNITS IN MORE THAN ONE COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY TO REPORT SEPARATELY IN HIS SALES TAX RETURN THE TOTAL GROSS PROCEEDS FROM THE BUSINESS DONE IN EACH COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY, AND TO AMEND SECTION 12-35-720, RELATING TO THE ALLOCATION OF ACCOMMODATIONS TAX REVENUE, SO AS TO REQUIRE A MEMBER OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON EXPENDITURES TO REPRESENT CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS.

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

Accommodations tax reporting requirements

SECTION 1. Item (1) of Section 12-35-710 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 316 of 1984, is amended to read:

"(1) In addition to the tax levied in Sections 12-35-510, 12-35-810, and 12-35-1120 and Article 11 of Chapter 35 of Title 12, there is levied and imposed an additional sales tax of two percent of the gross proceeds from the rental of transient accommodations, including campgrounds, which are subject to the state sales tax.

The tax provided for in this section must be collected by the Tax Commission in the manner that the sales tax prescribed in Chapter 35 of Title 12 is collected. All provisions of law other than Section 12-35-520 applicable to the sales tax shall apply with equal force and effect to the additional sales tax on transient accommodations, including the requirement that all persons subject to the tax shall acquire the necessary sales tax license provided for in Section 12-35-320. The proceeds of the tax, less the Tax Commission's actual incremental increase in the cost of administration, must be remitted quarterly to the municipality or to the county in which it is collected. Procedures for collection of the tax must be established by regulations promulgated by the Tax Commission. In addition to other regulations the commission considers necessary, the commission's regulations shall prescribe that the customers paying the sales tax on transient accommodations shall have the sales tax provided by law and the additional tax on accommodations billed and paid in a single tax item listed as 'tax', without itemizing the two taxes as separate items. When any business is subject to the accommodations tax and the business has more than one place of business in the State, the licensee shall separately report in his sales tax return the total gross proceeds derived from business done within and without the corporate limits of municipalities. A taxpayer who owns or manages rental units in more than one county or municipality shall separately report in his sales tax return the total gross proceeds from business done in each county or municipality."

Advisory committee - composition

SECTION 2. Subsection (3) of Section 12-35-720 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 316 of 1984, is amended to read:

"(3) A municipality or county receiving revenue from the accommodations tax must appoint an advisory committee to make recommendations on the expenditure of revenue generated from the accommodations tax. The advisory committee shall consist of not less than five members with a majority of the committee members being selected from the hospitality industry of the municipality or county receiving the revenue and one member must represent the cultural organizations of the municipality or county receiving the revenue."

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect sixty days after approval by the Governor.