SC CREDIT BRIEF
South Carolina’s tax credit programs have seen more legislative and administrative activity this cycle than usual. Below is a rundown organized by credit type, with the practical impact up front.
TEXTILE MILL CREDITS
– SCDOR’s amended Revenue Ruling #25-1 (June 24, 2026) reverses part of the position the Department took in its 2025 revision of the same ruling. The change removes a rule that tied one subdivided-site owner’s credit eligibility to other owners’ rehab progress on the same original textile mill site. Proposed companion legislation (H.5488 / S.1122) would put the same fix into the statute at § 12-65-20.
– A budget proviso (117.159) extends, for another cycle, a narrow exception for a small set of already-filed projects. It doesn’t open eligibility to new projects. The budget conference committee has adopted its report; the proviso still needs a floor vote in both chambers (expected August 11) and the Governor’s signature.
HISTORIC TAX CREDITS
– A budget proviso (117.150) would suspend the state’s historic certification fee for the current fiscal year. The conference committee has adopted its report, but it still needs a floor vote in both chambers (expected August 11) and the Governor’s signature. Last year’s suspension expired June 30, 2026, so the fee applies to certifications processed in the meantime.
ABANDONED BUILDING CREDITS
– Act R236 (signed May 19, 2026) addresses, by statute, some of the same ground DOR’s 2026 Revenue Ruling on the Abandoned Building Credit had covered. It also bars pledging the credit as loan collateral, broadens who can receive a transferred credit, and adjusts the underlying building and site definitions.
LIHTC / AFFORDABLE HOUSING
– Act R236 also imposes a one-year hold, June 30, 2026 through June 30, 2027, on new applications for the § 12-37-220(B)(11)(e) property tax exemption widely used in affordable housing deals, with a narrow exception for certain nonprofit-owned projects. If a deal has a closing condition tied to that exemption, worth flagging now rather than at the closing table.
WE’RE TRACKING
– H.5006 would rewrite how the § 12-37-220(B)(11)(e) exemption is calculated for partial nonprofit ownership. It passed both chambers in different forms and was recommitted to House Ways and Means in mid-May, with no further action since.
– H.5488 / S.1122, the statutory fix mentioned above, remain in Senate Finance.
We are happy to discuss any of this in more detail. Reach out any time.