South Carolina State Tax Rulings
Free plain-English summaries of state tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued in South Carolina, with full citations and the original source on every page.
No South Carolina rulings match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
What physical, licensing, and employee requirements made each video-game room a separate place under RR 95-13?
RR 95-13 required each video-game premises in a shared structure to have qualifying walls, a separate electric meter, its own employee present during all business hours, and separate local business an…
When did South Carolina's historical casual excise tax or use tax apply to vehicles, boats, airplanes, motors, and trailers under RR 95-12?
RR 95-12 imposed casual excise tax at titling after a nonretailer sale of a motor vehicle, motorcycle, boat, motor, or airplane, while use tax applied to covered property bought from an out-of-state r…
Were fencing, watering tubs, feed troughs, and hay feeders exempt for commercially raised poultry and livestock under RR 95-11?
Yes. RR 95-11 exempted fencing and fencing supplies used to enclose poultry or livestock raised or maintained for commercial purposes, whether inside a barn or around a dedicated field. Watering tubs,…
How did South Carolina RR 95-10 count player stations and licenses on multiplayer video-gaming devices?
RR 95-10 counted each player station on a multiplayer video-gaming device as a separate machine. A location could not allow more than five people to play the device at once under the five-machine limi…
What South Carolina income, sales, and deed-tax consequences did RR 95-9 assign to a partnership's conversion into an LLC?
For a conversion with the same owners, ownership shares, and business, RR 95-9 treated the LLC as a continuation of the partnership. The partnership did not terminate or close its tax year, no new tax…
Were blood glucose meters exempt from South Carolina sales and use tax under PLR 95-6?
Yes, for the addressed taxpayer when a blood glucose meter was sold to a diabetic under a physician's authorization and direction. The Department treated the meter as a technological development servi…
How did PLR 95-7 apportion trademark royalties and the corporate license fee for a South Carolina licensing subsidiary?
The addressed licensing subsidiary used a gross-receipts ratio: its South Carolina numerator included royalties from licensees' sales delivered to customers in South Carolina, while the denominator in…
How did PLR 95-5 apply South Carolina's historical job credits and job development fee to a new multi-county industrial-park facility?
For the addressed project, 1995 was the first job-credit year because permanent staff began operating the facility then. The company qualified for a historical $1,500 annual credit per new full-time j…
What made each video-game room a separate 'single place or premises' under South Carolina RR 95-7?
Under the regulation explained in RR 95-7, each video-game room in a shared structure needed qualifying exterior walls or firewalls, a separate electric meter, its own employee during business hours, …
Was documentary tax due when church trustees deeded church realty to the same church after nonprofit incorporation under RR 95-8?
No. RR 95-8 concluded that a church's transfer of realty from its trustees to the newly incorporated church was only a change in legal form, not a sale for consideration. Documentary tax was not due, …
Which restaurant purchases were taxable or exempt from South Carolina sales and use tax under RR 95-6?
RR 95-6 treated food and beverage ingredients and qualifying containers or packaging used to sell and deliver the meal as nontaxable wholesale or exempt purchases. It treated supplies consumed by the …
Which entities were subject to South Carolina's corporate license fee under Revenue Ruling 95-5?
RR 95-5 applied the corporate license fee to South Carolina corporations, foreign corporations qualified or doing business or earning income in the state, and LLCs, professional associations, and othe…
How old did employees have to be to bartend, serve alcohol, or work in a South Carolina liquor business under RR 95-4?
Under RR 95-4, bartenders serving open beer, wine, or distilled spirits had to be at least 21. Servers, waiters, and waitresses could serve open alcoholic beverages at 18. Anyone working in any capaci…
Who owed South Carolina sales and use tax under PLR 95-4 when a food-service company managed hospital or private-company cafeterias?
For the addressed contracts, the food-service company made a nontaxable wholesale sale when it supplied food to a hospital and provided a nontaxable service when the hospital bought the food itself; t…
Were customer-brewed beer operations legal, permitted, and taxable in South Carolina under RR 95-3?
Yes, the described brew-on-premises business was legal, but the operator had to obtain and maintain a brewery permit. The customer who rented the equipment and bought ingredients was liable for beer t…
Could South Carolina coin-operated-device and owner/operator licenses be transferred to a machine's buyer under RR 95-2?
No. RR 95-2 concluded that neither a license attached to a coin-operated device nor the seller's owner/operator license could be sold or transferred. When a licensed machine changed hands, the old dev…
Could an S corporation earn South Carolina's historical job tax credit and use the carryforward after converting to a C corporation under PLR 95-3?
Yes, for the addressed taxpayer if all statutory requirements were met. The Department treated the S corporation as 'subject to' corporate tax even when it had no ordinary corporate-level liability. I…
Was a nonresident investment partnership's intangible income South Carolina-source income to its nonresident limited partners under PLR 95-2?
No, on the stated facts. The nonresident partnership pooled investments and bought and sold stocks, securities, intangibles, and partnership interests solely for its own account. It gave no financial …
Were household goods in a South Carolina timeshare or vacation home exempt from property tax under RR 95-1?
Generally yes for personal use. RR 95-1 treated household goods and furniture in a second home or ownership-timeshare unit as exempt when the dwelling was never rented or was only occasionally rented …
Did PLR 94-12 require a Class II or Class III license for the Countertop Champion video-game machine?
The machine required a Class II license. Although certain games could continue for extra hands or time based on points, the machine never awarded a complete additional game without another coin, so it…
Did RR 94-11 extend South Carolina's school and public-library book exemptions to alternative media?
Yes. Qualifying school and public-library books, periodicals, and newspapers remained exempt when supplied on media such as audio or video tape, CD-ROM, microfilm, or microfiche. The ruling did not ad…
Did PLR 94-11 apply South Carolina's historical $300 maximum tax to a research electron microscope?
Yes. Each item of the electron-microscope system qualified because it was used directly and exclusively to develop or improve membrane-filter applications and was located in a separate facility devote…
How did PLR 94-10 tax an out-of-state fabricated ornamental railing installed at a South Carolina dealership?
The ruling classified the railing as a unique product. Materials used to fabricate it out of state were not taxed because they were not sold and delivered to the contractor in South Carolina, but inst…
Did PLR 94-9 require an entertainment facility to withhold tax from payments to nonresident performers?
Yes, when a temporary nonresident licensee's payment exceeded or was expected to exceed $10,000 in a calendar year. The facility controlled ticket receipts and paid the settlement balance, so the ruli…
Who did RR 94-10 treat as a bingo-house agent or representative barred from playing at that operation?
Promoters, employees, assisting contractors, officers, and volunteers could not play at the operation they served. A nonprofit member was covered on days the member volunteered, while an independent b…
Did three South Carolina aircraft landings create 1993 income-tax nexus for the out-of-state lessor in PLR 94-8?
No, on the complete 1993 facts. ABC had no South Carolina property base, employees, accounts, registration, or other business activity, and its leased aircraft made only three landings. The ruling war…
How did RR 94-9 apply South Carolina's historical retirement-income deduction to a surviving spouse?
A surviving spouse generally stepped into the deceased spouse's deduction election for inherited retirement income and could also claim a separate deduction for the survivor's own retirement income. I…
Did PLR 94-7 exempt grease and oil used to lubricate tax-exempt manufacturing machinery?
No. The ruling treated the lubricants as taxable purchases for ABC's own use, not exempt machine parts or purchases for resale. Later burning the used oil as boiler fuel, recycling it, selling it, or …
Were meals sold to students by the nonprofit K-12 school in PLR 94-6 exempt from South Carolina sales tax?
Yes. The school's cafeteria meals qualified because they were sold to kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade students, within the school setting, and the meal program was operated without profit.
Did PLR 94-5 preserve job-tax credits when new employees moved from a leased plant to a permanent plant in the same industrial park?
Yes, on the stated facts. The jobs qualified for a $1,000 regular credit plus a $500 multi-county-industrial-park credit for years two through six, provided every other statutory requirement was met. …
Did RR 94-8 allow beer-price promotions that required participating sellers to pass savings to customers?
Yes. A brewery or wholesaler could condition a price reduction on passing savings to the next tier, but participation had to be voluntary and the discount had to be price-only, recorded, broadly avail…
Did PLR 94-3 tax gravel, crushed rock, and asphalt that a road contractor produced for its own projects?
Not on the stated facts. Removing gravel and rock from ABC's own land was not a retail sale, and its rare asphalt sales did not make it an asphalt manufacturer. If regular sales later made ABC a manuf…
How did PLR 94-4 tax a food-service company selling university meal plans as the school's agent?
The ruling treated unprepared food bought for board-plan meals as taxable retail purchases and treated separate meal or food sales as taxable retail sales. For shared inventory, the agent bought whole…
How did RR 94-7 compute tobacco tax for promotional products, allowances, and early-payment discounts?
The ruling used the manufacturer's actual promotional price for packaged units, free-case bundles, and temporary price allowances. It calculated tax before any separate early-payment cash discount.
Who counted as an agent, promoter, or house representative barred from playing bingo under RR 94-6?
Promoters, employees, assisting contractors, volunteers, officers, and anyone empowered to act for the promoter or nonprofit could not play at that operation. An independent bus driver could play only…
Did RR 94-5 permit a retailer to pay a beer or wine wholesaler electronically after delivery?
No. Under the statute then in effect, beer or wine had to be paid for in cash, by bona fide check, or by money order before or at delivery. The proposed end-of-day electronic debit occurred too late.
Did RR 94-4 treat malt coolers as beer under South Carolina's producer-and-wholesaler rules?
Yes, if the malt cooler contained no more than 5% alcohol by weight. The ruling treated a stronger malt cooler as alcoholic liquor instead, outside the cited beer-producer and wholesaler provision.
When did RR 94-3 require paid-admissions receipts to be reported, and were restaurant-package handling fees taxable?
The ruling required reporting when a ticket was issued or promised, unless it had not yet been paid for; gift-certificate receipts were reported when redeemed for a ticket. A separately optional resta…
How did RR 94-2 tax standard and custom-fabricated building products used by their maker in construction contracts?
A true manufacturer regularly selling standard finished products owed tax on fair market value when it used those products at a South Carolina job site. A contractor fabricating unique, job-specific p…
When did PLR 94-2 treat a federal security contractor's purchases as exempt federal-government purchases?
The purchases were exempt when ABC bought on the federal government's behalf, did not risk its own credit, disclosed the government agency on purchase orders, vested title in the government, and paid …
Which South Carolina bodies counted as legislative agencies for the temporary document-copy sales-tax exemption in RR 94-1?
RR 94-1 limited the temporary exemption to agencies under the South Carolina Legislature's direct control, such as the Senate, House, joint committees, Legislative Audit Council, Legislative Council, …
Did PLR 94-1 impose South Carolina sales, use, or property tax on equipment sold for foreign resale and temporarily stored in-state?
No, on the stated facts. The sale to the foreign company was a wholesale sale for resale, and the equipment remained exempt inventory while temporarily stored in South Carolina before export.
How did South Carolina PLR 93-8 tax a mutual fund's exempt-interest dividends, capital-gain dividends, and insured defaulted-bond interest?
Qualifying exempt-interest dividends attributable to South Carolina, U.S., or listed territorial obligations were exempt, including qualifying insured matured interest. Capital-gain dividends remained…
How did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-12 calculate the historical retirement-income deduction for a surviving spouse?
A surviving spouse could claim one deduction for the survivor's own retirement income and a separate deduction for income attributable to the deceased spouse. For the inherited stream, the survivor ge…
Under South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-11, was a lessor or lessee responsible for property tax on leased real and personal property?
The lessor was generally liable as owner. Liability shifted to the lessee for financing arrangements and specified exceptions, including unit valuation and qualifying 99-year real-property leases; fee…
Which in-state activities did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-10 treat as protected solicitation under Public Law 86-272, and which activities destroyed immunity?
Protection covered interstate sales of tangible goods when South Carolina activity was limited to solicitation, ancillary acts, de minimis activity, or specified independent-contractor work. Regular r…
Did South Carolina PLR 93-6 apply the historical $300 maximum tax to each item in a university supercomputer system used for research and development?
Yes. Each item qualified because the system was used exclusively to develop software and other R&D products and was housed in a restricted, separately staffed facility devoted exclusively to research …
How did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-9 apply sales and use tax to meals furnished or sold by colleges, hospitals, and their food-service companies?
Institutional meals were taxable at different transaction points: food inputs used for board-plan or patient meals were retail purchases, while separate cash food sales were taxable retail sales by th…
Under South Carolina PLR 93-5, were sales of Lupron exempt when dispensed by a pharmacist or sold by the manufacturer to a physician for administration?
A licensed pharmacist's sale of Lupron under a medical professional's prescription was exempt. LOP's sale to a physician who would administer the drug was taxable because the doctor was the consumer a…
Did South Carolina PLR 93-4 exempt a commercial fisherman's retail oyster sales as farm products?
Yes, but only for oysters the fisherman cultivated and harvested in his own shellfish-culture permit area and sold in their original state of production or preparation. Oysters harvested from state-ma…
Did South Carolina PLR 93-3 require a petroleum-hauling coordinator that leased trucks and used independent drivers to apportion income as a motor carrier?
Yes. Although independent contractors owned and drove the trucks, APC leased them, solicited and coordinated hauling, insured the vehicles, and billed customers, so it was a motor carrier required to …
How did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-8 tax basic horse and stock trailers compared with trailers containing a camper package?
Basic trailers, tack- or dressing-room trailers, and goosenecks without camper packages were taxed at the full 5% historical rate. A trailer with a camper package paid the lesser of 5% or $300.
Could a South Carolina fee-in-lieu project under the historical Section 4-29-67 consist only of manufacturing machinery and equipment?
Yes. The project could consist solely of machinery and equipment; land and buildings were not required, provided all other statutory fee-in-lieu requirements were met.
Under South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-6, when were charges for extended warranties subject to sales or use tax?
A warranty sold with tangible personal property was taxable in full, even if optional and separately stated. A separate warranty bought after the property sale was not subject to sales or use tax.
Did South Carolina PLR 93-2 impose the historical accommodations tax on reserved recreational-vehicle parking at a raceway?
No. The separately sold RV spaces, which had electrical hookups but no water or sewer hookups, were not taxable accommodations because the raceway was not a campground.
Did South Carolina PLR 93-1 exempt printing inputs used to produce a free advertising shopper that was not a newspaper?
Mostly no. Because the shopper was distributed free and was not a newspaper, newsprint, ink, composing supplies, press plates, photo negatives, production electricity, and local telephone service were…
When did South Carolina Revenue Ruling 93-4 treat computer-software maintenance and support contracts as taxable?
A maintenance contract sold with software was fully taxable, whether optional or mandatory. A separately sold or later contract was taxable when its true object was software or updates, but not when i…
How did RR 93-3 apply South Carolina's historical bingo-license domicile and separate-organization requirements?
A reinstated corporation's temporary dissolution did not interrupt its three-year South Carolina domicile, but an organization not yet reinstated could not qualify. Related churches or auxiliaries had…
How did RR 93-2 tax racing gasoline and other racing fuels in South Carolina?
High-octane racing gasoline was taxable under Chapter 27. Other racing fuel was taxable under Chapter 29 when used in a vehicle that could be licensed for highway use, but not when used in a racing ve…
Which extra automobile-rental charges did RR 93-1 include in taxable gross proceeds?
All listed add-ons were taxable: fuel charges, collision-damage waivers, personal-accident coverage, extended liability protection, personal-effects coverage, and combined accident/effects coverage. S…
Browse South Carolina rulings by topic
These are official tax letter rulings and advisory opinions issued by South Carolina's revenue authority in response to questions from specific taxpayers about how the tax law applies to their facts. A ruling is binding on the department only for the taxpayer who requested it and cannot be relied on by anyone else, but it is strong evidence of how the state reads the law. Every ruling above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original source.