Specialty Tax Group

South Carolina Tax Credits

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South Carolina Tax Credits

The Jobs Tax Credit is a valuable financial incentive that rewards new and expanding companies for creating jobs in South Carolina. In order to qualify, companies must create and maintain a certain number of net new jobs in a taxable year. The number of new jobs is calculated as the increase in the average monthly employment from one year to the next.

The following types of businesses qualify for the Jobs Tax Credit:

  • Manufacturing and processing, warehousing and distribution, research and development, agribusiness operations and qualifying technology intensive facilities must create a monthly average of 10 net new jobs.
  • Corporate office facilities housing a majority of the headquarters functions must create a monthly average of 10 net new jobs.
  • Qualified service-related facilities must meet the following criteria.
  1. In a Tier IV County, service facilities must create a monthly average of 10 net new jobs to qualify.
  2. In a Tier I, II, or III County, service facilities must create in a single taxable year a monthly average of:
  3. 175 new jobs;
  4. 150 new jobs in a building that has been vacant for at least 12 months;
  5. 100 new jobs with an average salary 1.5 times the lower of the state or the county per capita income;
  6. 50 new jobs with an average salary 2 times the lower of the state or the county per capita income; or
  7. 25 new jobs with an average salary 2.5 times the lower of the state or the county per capita income.

The value of the credit depends on the county's development tier as set forth below:

County's Development Tier

Tier I $1,500
Tier II $2,750
Tier III $20,250
Tier IV $25,000

Counties are re-ranked every year based on unemployment rates and per capita income, and the ranking of a county may change from year to year. 



A county may also join with another county to form a “multi-county industrial park.” Under this arrangement, a county agrees to share the property taxes with a “partner” county. This partnership raises the value of the credits by $1,000 per job, meaning credits from $2,500 to $26,000 per job may be available for qualifying companies.


If the company is a manufacturing, processing, warehousing and distribution, research and development, agribusiness, or qualified technology intensive facility or a corporate office that has fewer than 99 employees worldwide, the company could qualify for the Small Business Jobs Tax Credit by creating a monthly average of 2 net new jobs, instead of 10. Under the Small Business Jobs Tax Credit, the company may only get the full credit amount for net new jobs that pay 120% of the county’s average hourly rate. For jobs that pay less than 120% of the county’s average hourly wage rate, credits from $750 to $12,500 per job (or $1,750 to $13,000 in a multi-county industrial park) may be available for qualifying companies.


For both the Jobs Tax Credit and the Small Business Jobs Tax Credit, the credit is available for a five-year period beginning with Year 2 (Year 1 is used to establish the created job levels.) The credit can be applied against corporate income tax or premium tax but cannot exceed 50% of the year’s tax liability. Unused credits may be carried forward for 15 years from the year earned.

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GEORGIA TAX CREDITS

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