Lancaster County and South Carolina take great pride in offering a remarkably robust package of incentives to growing companies. South Carolina is consistently recognized internationally and nationally as having one of the nation’s most favorable business climates, thanks to low overall business costs and aggressive local and state incentives.
Doing business in Lancaster County offers significant cost advantages, among them:
- A 5% state corporate income tax rate and no local corporate income tax
- No state property tax
- No local income tax
- No inventory tax
- No sales tax on manufacturing equipment, industrial power or materials for finished products
- No wholesale tax
- No unitary tax on worldwide profits
- Statutory and discretionary incentives for new and expanding businesses in Lancaster County are recognized as among the most aggressive in the Carolinas.
- Fee-In-Lieu-of-Tax (FILOT) agreements are a discretionary county incentive offered to new and expanding industrial and office projects. FILOT agreements range from 20-30 years, reduce the assessment rate on the real and personal property from 10.5% to 6%, and provide a locked in millage rate for the term of the agreement.
- Special Source Revenue Credits (SSRC) reduce a company’s tax liability by providing a credit against FILOT payments or ad valorem (standard) property taxes. The credits are typically offered for five to ten years and range from 25%-50%.
- Manufacturing and distribution businesses that create an average of ten new jobs annually in Lancaster County earn Job Tax Credits of $3,750 per new job. The credits are earned for five years and can be applied against 50% of the company’s annual state corporate income tax liability. Unused credits can be carried forward for 15 years.
- Job Development Credits are a state discretionary incentive program that can be used for capital expenses and training costs related to a project. The credits are available for those jobs that pay at or above the county’s average wage rate. Companies receive an annual credit against the withholding taxes paid for qualified jobs. Credits are usually for ten years; however, in some cases may be earned for fifteen. In Lancaster County the credit is against 70% of the qualified jobs withholding tax with a maximum credits amount of $3,250 per job.
- Lancaster County is home to several county-owned industrial parks. Land in these parks is available to new and expanding businesses at rates that are often well below market value.
To learn more about incentives from Lancaster County and South Carolina, visit South Carolina Department of Commerce.
