SOUTH CAROLINA INCENTIVES SUMMARY
Economic Development Set-Aside Program
This program assists companies in locating or expanding in South Carolina by providing financial assistance for infrastructure improvements related to business location or expansion including road, water/sewer, and site improvements.
Governor Closing Fund
The Closing Fund may be available when additional funding is needed to attract or retain high impact economic development projects to South Carolina. Funds are used to assist with costs associated with real property improvements or infrastructure improvements.
Rural Infrastructure Fund (RIF)
The RIF may be available to support job creation, product development, and infrastructure improvements that enhance economic growth in qualified counties in rural areas of South Carolina. Qualified counties are defined as Tier III or Tier IV by the Department of Revenue and have received approval for an economic development strategic plan by the Coordinating Council for Economic Development.
Job Development Credit
This program provides companies with cash grants to assist with the cost of locating or expanding a facility in South Carolina. The Job Development Credit reimburses companies a percentage of the personal state withholding tax of new employees filling new full-time jobs that provide health care benefits. The program caps the annual grant amount to $3,250 per employee per year for up to ten years. Employees receive an annual tax credit equal to the amount of the grant awarded to the company.
Corporate Headquarters Credit
South Carolina provides a 20% tax credit based on the value of the percentage of a building dedicated to headquarters operations or direct lease costs for the facility over the first five years of operation. This tax credit is not limited in eliminating corporate income taxes and may potentially eliminate corporate income taxes for up to ten years. Headquarters operations include employees that are executive, administrative, or professional workers performing headquarters related functions and services that spends 80% of their time on corporate-wide duties.
Enhanced Corporate Headquarters Tax Credit
In addition to the Corporate Headquarters Credit based on the value of the building devoted to corporate functions, the Enhanced Corporate Headquarters Tax Credit provides a tax credit equal to 20 percent of the tangible personal property costs of establishing the headquarters facility.
Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit
Manufacturers locating or expanding in South Carolina may claim a one-time tax credit against their corporate income tax of up to 2.5% of its investment in new production equipment. The tax credit may be used to offset up to 100% of income tax liability, and any unused credits may be carried forward for up to ten years.
Jobs Tax Credit
The Jobs Tax Credit may claim a tax credit ranging from $1,500 to $25,000 per job, based on the company industry and location, for creating at least ten net new jobs. The tax credit is available for a 5-year term.
Investment Tax Credit
Manufacturers locating or expanding in South Carolina may receive a one-time credit of up to 2.5 percent of a company's investment in new production equipment.
Workforce Training
South Carolina offers several training programs designed to assist companies locating or expanding in the state. readySC provides recruiting and training assistance via the 16 state technical colleges to develop customized employee training programs at no cost to companies.
Other training programs include on-the-job training reimburses between 50-90 percent of wages or salaries for costs associated with training new employees. Incumbent worker training may assist with training current employees to upgrade skills to support new technology, restructuring, new product lines, and other event that impact existing workforces.
Notice: This list of economic development incentive programs is intended to provide a high-level overview of commonly pursued state discretionary programs. A comprehensive analysis of project details will determine the full scope of state and local incentive programs that may be available to support a specific project.