What were South Carolina's 2022 job-credit county tiers, moratorium counties, and reduced fee counties?

Plain-English summary

SC Information Letter #21-28 publishes the 2022 county designations used for three South Carolina incentives: the job tax credit, the tax moratorium, and the reduced minimum investment for fees in lieu of property taxes. The designations depend in part on unemployment-rate and per capita income data.

Job tax credit tiers

The Department ranked all 46 counties into four tiers, giving equal weight to unemployment rate and per capita income. The rankings applied to new full-time jobs created in tax years beginning in 2022 where the job tax credit was first earned on or after January 1, 2022, and to increases in new full-time jobs in 2022.

The Tier IV counties were Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Cherokee, Chester, Dillon, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Union, and Williamsburg. The Tier I counties were Aiken, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Greenville, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry, Oconee, Richland, and York. The original letter lists every Tier II and Tier III county as well.

Tax moratorium

Section 12-6-3367 provides a 10-year moratorium — 15 years in certain cases — on corporate income or insurance premium taxes for qualifying taxpayers in designated counties. For 2022, the designated counties were Chesterfield, Dillon, and Jasper.

Fee in lieu of property taxes

The letter states standard minimum investments of $2.5 million for the Little Fee and Simplified Fee and $45 million for the Big Fee. The minimum can fall to $1 million in a qualifying county. No county qualified for the reduced $1 million minimum for 2022.

What this means for you

Match the county designation to the year in which jobs are created or the investment is evaluated. These lists are recalculated annually, so the 2022 tiers and qualifying counties do not establish the result for another year.

Common questions

Q: Which counties qualified for the 2022 tax moratorium?
A: Chesterfield, Dillon, and Jasper.

Q: Did any county qualify for the reduced $1 million fee-in-lieu minimum?
A: No, not for 2022.

Source

• Landing page: https://dor.sc.gov/advisory-opinion-search
• Original PDF: https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/policies/IL21-28.pdf

Original ruling text

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
300A Outlet Pointe Blvd., Columbia, South Carolina 29210
P.O. Box 125, Columbia, South Carolina 29214-0575

SC INFORMATION LETTER #21-28
SUBJECT:

Job Tax Credit - County Rankings for 2022
Fee in Lieu of Property Taxes – Reduced Investment Counties
Tax Moratorium – Qualifying Counties

DATE:

December 10, 2021

REFERENCE:

S. C. Code Ann. Section 12-6-3360 (2014; Supp. 2020)
S. C. Code Ann. Section 12-6-3367 (2014)
S. C. Code Ann. Section 12-44-30 (2014)
S. C. Code Ann. Section 4-12-30 (Supp. 2020)
S. C. Code Ann. Section 4-29-67 (Supp. 2020)

AUTHORITY:

S.C. Code Ann. Section 12-4-320 (2014)
S.C. Code Ann. Section 1-23-10(4) (2005)
SC Revenue Procedure #09-3

SCOPE:

An Information Letter is a written statement issued to the public to announce
general information useful in complying with the laws administered by the
Department. An Information Letter has no precedential value.

INTRODUCTION
The job tax credit, the tax moratorium, and the reduction in the minimum required fee in lieu of
property tax investment are dependent, in part, on per capita income and unemployment rate data
received from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce and the United
States Department of Commerce.
The purpose of this information letter is to provide the county rankings for purposes of the job
tax credit, counties qualifying for the tax moratorium, and counties qualifying for the reduced fee
in lieu of property tax.
JOB TAX CREDIT – County Rankings
South Carolina’s 46 counties are ranked and designated annually for job tax credit purposes with
equal weight given to unemployment rate and per capita income as provided in South Carolina
Code Section 12-6-3360(B). The final ranking of counties for (1) new full-time jobs created in

1

tax years that begin in 2022, where the job tax credit was first earned on or after January 1, 2022,
and (2) increases in new full-time jobs in 2022 are listed below. 1
TIER IV
Allendale
Bamberg
Barnwell
Cherokee
Chester
Dillon
Lee
Marion
Marlboro
Orangeburg
Union
Williamsburg

TIER III

TIER II

Abbeville
Chesterfield
Clarendon
Colleton
Darlington
Fairfield
Greenwood
Horry
Jasper
Laurens
McCormick
Sumter

Anderson
Calhoun
Dorchester
Edgefield
Florence
Georgetown
Hampton
Lancaster
Pickens
Saluda
Spartanburg

TIER I
Aiken
Beaufort
Berkeley
Charleston
Greenville
Kershaw
Lexington
Newberry
Oconee
Richland
York

TAX MORATORIUM – Qualifying Counties
South Carolina Code Section 12-6-3367, in part, grants a 10 year moratorium (15 years in certain
cases) on corporate income taxes or insurance premium taxes for qualifying taxpayers in a
county with an average annual unemployment rate of at least twice the state average during each
of the last two completed calendar years, based on the most recent unemployment rates available,
or in a county with one of the three lowest per capita incomes based on the average of the three
most recent years of available average per capita income data. The moratorium begins the first
full taxable year after the taxpayer qualifies in a county designated as a moratorium county.
For 2022, the following counties have been designated moratorium counties under South
Carolina Code Section 12-6-3367.
Chesterfield
Dillon
Jasper
FEE IN LIEU OF PROPERTY TAXES - Reduced Investment Counties
The minimum required investment necessary to qualify for the fee in lieu of property taxes is
$2.5 million for the “Little Fee” and “Simplified Fee,” and $45 million for the “Big Fee.” See
South Carolina Code Sections 4-12-30(B)(3), 12-44-30(14), and 4-29-67, respectively. This
investment amount, however, is reduced to $1 million for a company investing in a county with
an average annual unemployment rate of at least twice the state average during each of the last
24 months, based on data available on November 1.
For 2022, no county qualifies for the $1 million minimum investment under the “Little Fee,”
“Simplified Fee,” and “Big Fee.”
1

For further information, see SC Revenue Ruling #19-11, Question 3 and the examples provided.

2