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South Carolina continues to attract businesses with its pro-growth policies and competitive incentives. Among these, the South Carolina New Jobs Credit stands out as a valuable program that rewards businesses for creating and maintaining jobs across the state. This initiative helps companies reduce costs while strengthening local economies by driving job creation and reducing unemployment.
Designed with a tiered structure, the program prioritizes areas with higher unemployment and lower income levels, ensuring that the greatest support reaches the communities that need it most. Businesses can use the credits to offset up to 50% of corporate or individual income tax, bank tax, or insurance premium tax. Eligible entities include C-corporations, S-corporations, partnerships, sole proprietors, and LLCs, with unused credits carried forward for fifteen years.
The South Carolina New Jobs Credit offers businesses a unique opportunity to reduce tax liabilities while contributing to their community. In this guide, we’ll break down how the credit works, eligibility requirements, and additional opportunities, such as bonuses for Brownfield sites.
For each new, full-time job created in South Carolina, the tax credit ranges in value from $1,500 - $25,000 per job per year, depending on the county’s tier. Counties are tiered based on unemployment rates and per capita income, with Tier IV counties offering the highest incentives. The credit is available for up to five years per job, provided eligibility requirements are met.
To qualify, businesses must create and maintain a specific number of new jobs:
For small businesses, jobs must meet a wage threshold test to determine whether they qualify for the full credit or 50%. As long as the initial jobs are maintained, businesses can continue earning credits for those jobs and any additional new jobs for five years.
If a large employer creates an average of 12 new jobs in 2025 and maintains that level for the next five years, and the business is located in a Tier IV County, the employer would create $1.5 million in job tax credits for the five years following year one.
Taxpayers who qualify for the New Jobs Credit and who are located on a cleaned-up Brownfield site are eligible for a “bonus” $1,000 per job, per year, in addition to the county’s base credit amount. Eligible taxpayers need not be the party responsible for cleaning up the site, so long as they are not the “responsible party” for the contamination.
A warehousing company leasing space on a cleaned-up Brownfield site in Greenville County (Tier I) would earn $1,500 base credit + $1,000 bonus credit = $2,500 per qualifying job, per year, for five years.
If your business has expanded and created jobs within the last three to five years, you may qualify for retroactive job tax credits. However, the requirements and rules are complex, and a detailed analysis is necessary to maximize benefits.
The South Carolina New Jobs Credit is available to businesses across a wide range of industries, including:
Are you missing out on this valuable tax benefit? At Elliott Davis, our team of experienced State and Local Tax (SALT) professionals can help you identify, apply for, and maximize these incentives. Whether you need assistance with state income taxes, property taxes, or sales taxes, our SALT experts are here to guide you through every step of the process.
The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
