Doing Business

BUSINESS-FRIENDLY CLIMATE

The County of Lexington and South Carolina are aligned in supporting a strong business climate, which aides new and existing industry by offering a variety of business and tax incentives. Our team approach of County Council working diligently with local leaders and staff creates a customer-centric tax and permitting environment and provides easy access to decision makers.

By combining a pro-business climate with performance-based incentives, this demonstrates our commitment to the collective future of industry in our County and the Palmetto State.

BUSINESS INCENTIVES

The County of Lexington and South Carolina offer a variety of competitive and customized incentive programs aimed at keeping industry operating costs low.

low-cost
  • No state real or personal property tax
  • No local income tax
  • No inventory tax
  • No sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment, computer services and software, material-handling equipment and a host of other sales tax exemptions
  • No wholesale sales tax
  • No pollution control equipment sales tax

JOB DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES

South Carolina’s Coordinating Council for Economic Development offers two job development and retraining credits to new and existing industry in the state.

JOB DEVELOPMENT CREDITS

South Carolina’s Enterprise Program administers job development credits by providing companies with funds to offset the cost of locating or expanding a business facility in the state.

JOB RETRAINING CREDITS

For annual job retraining in an effort to remain competitive or to introduce new technologies, eligible businesses may qualify for a refund of up to $1,000 per employee.

TAX INCENTIVES

CORPORATE INCOME TAX CREDITS

South Carolina has a number of tax credits that can be used to offset the state’s corporate income taxes. Some of the more frequently used incentives are detailed here:

JOBS TAX CREDIT

Benefits companies for job creation that helps reduce state corporate income tax liability, up to 50% in a single year and unused credits may be carried forward for 15 years.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS TAX CREDIT

Credit is equal to 20% of the qualifying costs for establishing or expanding a corporate headquarters.

PORT VOLUME INCREASE CREDIT

Manufacturers, warehouses and distributors using South Carolina port facilities and increasing base port cargo volume by 5% in a single year over baseyear totals are eligible for an income tax credit or credit against employee withholding.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TAX CREDIT

Credit equal to 5% of expenditures are available against state corporate income tax or corporate license tax for qualified research and development expenditures. Any unused credit may be carried forward for 10 years.

INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT

Used to offset up to 100% of corporate income tax liability with unused credits carrying forward for up to 10 years.

SALES AND USE TAX INCENTIVES

The sales and use tax rate in South Carolina is 6%. Sales tax applies to all retail sales, leases and rentals.

OUT-OF-STATE SALES EXEMPTION

South Carolina exempts sales tax on the gross proceeds of the sale of tangible personal property where the buyer is out-of-state.

OUT-OF-STATE PURCHASES-USE TAX CREDIT

South Carolina provides a credit to the use tax for sales and use taxes on the purchase of tangible personal property paid in another state if the state has similar tax credits on tangible personal property purchased in this state.

SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS

South Carolina supports new and expanding industry with state and local sales tax exemptions to include the following:

  • Machinery and equipment used in production
  • Research and development machinery and equipment
  • Repair parts
  • Materials used for a finished product
  • Fuels used in the production process including electricity
  • Pollution control equipment
  • Packaging materials
  • Rail cars and locomotives
  • Computer equipment used in a technology facility
  • Computer services and software
  • Recycling property used in a recycling facility

PROPERTY TAX INCENTIVES

There are numerous performance-based or statutory-based property tax incentives in the County of Lexington designed to minimize a company’s initial operating costs.

PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS

South Carolina exempts 3 classes of property from taxation:

  • Inventories
  • Intangible property
  • Pollution control equipment

PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENTS

5-year property tax abatements from county ordinary operating taxes for facilities investing $50,000+ include:

  • Manufacturing facilities
  • Research and Development facilities
  • Distribution facilities
  • Headquarters facilities

FEE-IN-LIEU OF PROPERTY TAXES (FILOT)

Companies investing more than $5 million within 5 years can negotiate a lower assessment ratio, as low as 6%, and stabilize millage rates for up to 30 years.

SUPER FEE-IN-LIEU OF PROPERTY TAXES (SUPER FILOT)

Companies may negotiate a Super FILOT of an assessment ratio as low as
4% by meeting one of these qualifications within 8 years:

  • Create 125 new jobs and invest $150 million
  • Single investment of $400 million+

SPECIAL SOURCE REVENUE CREDIT (SSRC)

To help offset a project’s infrastructure and/or machinery and equipment costs, an SSRC provides a credit off the tax payment due to the County of Lexington in designated years.