§ 6-1-420 — Assistance in collection of business license tax due; private right of action.

(A) Notwithstanding Section 5-7-300, a taxing jurisdiction may contract by ordinance with an individual, firm, or organization to assist the taxing jurisdiction in collecting property or business license taxes. A private third-party entity is prohibited from assessing business license taxes or requiring a business entity to remit confidential business license tax data to that private third party on behalf of a taxing jurisdiction. This section may not prohibit a taxing jurisdiction from contracting with a third-party entity in assisting in the collection of business license taxes. For the purposes of this section, assisting in the collection of business license taxes is limited to a contractual agreement with a taxing jurisdiction for a third party to identify, through publicly available records, businesses that are operating within the contracting taxing jurisdiction without a business license, to provide that identification to a taxing jurisdiction, to communicate with those businesses identified to determine whether any business license taxes are due and owing, and to assist those businesses that owe a business license tax with paying the relevant taxing jurisdiction. The third party may also assist the contracting taxing jurisdiction with providing, by United States official mail or electronic mail, the taxing jurisdiction's business license form, along with a self-addressed envelope containing the taxing jurisdiction address, to identified businesses on behalf of the taxing jurisdiction. If a business requests in writing that the third party cease communication with the business, then the third party is strictly prohibited from any further contact. A third party assisting in the collection of business license taxes as defined in this section is prohibited from retaining personal or proprietary information from the identified business. (B) It is unlawful for any individual, firm, or organization to contact a business in this State regarding noncompliance with a business license ordinance unless the contact is made pursuant to a contract with a taxing jurisdiction in accordance with this section. (C) This section may not prohibit a taxing jurisdiction from contracting with a third party for the purpose of providing payment processing services for the acceptance of business license tax payments. (D) A taxing jurisdiction may enter into a contract with a third party to assist the taxing jurisdiction in collecting delinquent business license taxes which includes a contingency fee based on a percentage of taxes collected or otherwise depends on the specific result obtained provided the third party may not be paid on a contingency or success basis until the taxing jurisdiction issues a proposed assessment of business license taxes and the business fails to appeal the proposed assessment in a timely manner or the appeal is adjudicated. This section does not apply to the collection of business license taxes pursuant to Article 20, Chapter 9, Title 58 and Chapters 7 and 45, Title 38. (E) Except as needed for a third party to assess and collect business license taxes collected pursuant to Article 20, Chapter 9, Title 58 and Chapters 7 and 45, Title 38, a taxing jurisdiction may not share or disclose any information relating to business license tax applications with any third party other than to acknowledge whether or not a business has paid the taxing jurisdiction's business license tax for a relevant year. Nothing in this section should be construed as prohibiting a person or entity that gathers and disseminates news, as defined in Section 19-11-100, from obtaining the information not protected by Section 6-1-120 found on the business license tax application from the taxing jurisdiction. (F) A third-party entity contracting with a taxing jurisdiction to assist in identifying and collecting outstanding business license taxes may not engage in any conduct in which the natural consequence is to harass a business including, but not limited to, the following: (1) contacting a business in any capacity after the business informs the third-party entity in writing to cease communication; (2) stating that a business is required to provide any information to the third-party entity; or (3) contacting the business in a manner that the third-party entity knows or should know creates any meaningful business interruption. (G) The provisions of subsection (A) do not apply to business license taxes collected pursuant to Article 20, Chapter 9, Title 58 and Chapters 7 and 45, Title 38. (H)(1) A person or entity may bring a private right of action: (a) based on a violation of this section or any regulations prescribed pursuant to this section to enjoin such violation; (b) to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to receive five hundred dollars in damages for each violation, whichever is greater; or (c) for both actions described in subitems (a) and (b). (2) If the court finds that a defendant wilfully or knowingly violated this section or any regulations prescribed pursuant to this section, then the court may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to no more than three times the actual monetary loss resulting from such violation.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2020 Act No. 176 (H.4431), SECTION 2, eff September 30, 2020. Editor's Note 2020 Act No. 176, SECTION 1, provides as follows: "SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the 'South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act'." ARTICLE 5 Local Accommodations Tax