Tax Credit for Increases in Purchases of South Carolina Agricultural Products

Tax Credit for Increases in Purchases of South Carolina Agricultural Products South Carolina provides a possible income tax credit or withholding tax credit to agribusiness or agricultural packaging operations.  To be eligible for this credit, a company must have a base year in which the company purchases more than $100,000 of agricultural products that have been certified as grown in South Carolina by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (“SCDA”) and then must increase number of agricultural units purchased in the following year by at least 15% over base-year unit totals.  The base-year unit amount will be re-calculated every year after the initial base year. A company must submit an application to the Coordinating Council by no later than September 30 of the year following the year in which it increases purchases.  Such application will be reviewed by the staff of the Coordinating Council and SCDA to determine eligibility.  Based on the recommendation of SCDA the Coordinating Council will determine the amount of, and the type of any tax credit, the company will receive.  The credit may not exceed $100,000 per taxpayer in any one year.  The total amount of tax credits allowed to all qualifying companies is limited to $2,000,000 per year.  Any unused credits may be carried forward for 5 years. Corporate Income Tax Moratorium Companies creating net new jobs in certain of South Carolina’s economically distressed counties will benefit from a corporate income tax moratorium. Companies that qualify for the moratorium will be able to entirely eliminate their state corporate income tax liability for a period of either 10 or 15 years. In order to qualify, at least 90% of the company’s total investment in South Carolina must be in a county where the unemployment rate is twice the state average. The length of the moratorium depends on the number of net new full-time jobs created. Companies creating at least 100 net new full-time jobs in a five year period qualify for a 10 year moratorium, and companies creating at least 200 net new full-time jobs in a five year period qualify for a 15 year moratorium. The moratorium period begins once a company meets the required job target. In order to qualify for the moratorium, a company must also obtain certification through an application process from the Coordinating Council that the project will have a significant beneficial effect on the region for which it is planned, and that the benefits of the project to the public exceed its costs. If a company is approved for the moratorium, it must enter into a contract with the South Carolina Department of Revenue. For 2024, only Chesterfield, Dillon and Marlboro Counties have been designated as moratorium counties.

South Carolina provides a possible income tax credit or withholding tax credit to agribusiness or agricultural packaging operations.  To be eligible for this credit, a company must have a base year in which the company purchases more than $100,000 of agricultural products that have been certified as grown in South Carolina by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (“SCDA”) and then must increase number of agricultural units purchased in t