Taxes & Incentives
Richland County and South Carolina offer businesses generous tax credits and incentives to help them grow and thrive.
- 5% Corporate Income Tax
(Among the lowest in the nation) - 6% Sales Tax
(2% Local Options Sales Tax) - Competitive property tax incentives
for new and expanding industries
Incentives + Tax Credits
Growing your business comes at a cost – but there are resources to help ease some of that burden.Richland County and South Carolina offer a range of discretionary and statutory incentives and tax credits to support your company’s growth plans. These resources are strategically designed to help offset some of the growing pains, like reducing operating expenses, opening a new headquarters, supporting green initiatives, or even training your current or future workforce.
Special Source Revenue Credit (SSRC)
The county has the discretion to offer a Special Source Revenue Credit to help offset a project’s infrastructure and/or machinery and equipment costs. This is done in the form of a credit off the tax payment due to the county in designated years
Fee-In-Lieu of Property Tax (FILOT)
This discretionary local incentive allows qualifying companies to negotiate a fee instead of paying property taxes.
Advantages include:
- Significantly lowering property tax payments by negotiating a lower assessment ratio (from 10.5% to as low as 6%)
- Ability to lower property tax payments 43% on average by negotiating a fee-in-lieu
- Negotiating the applicable millage rate to a locked rate or a five-year adjustable rate
- Term of the agreement can be 20 years and in some cases 30 years
Corporate Income Tax Credit
This tax credit can eliminate a qualified company’s corporate income tax liability for up to 10-15 years
Jobs Tax Credit
The Jobs Tax Credit is a valuable financial incentive that rewards new and expanding companies for creating jobs in South Carolina. Richland County is classified as a Tier 1 County (2025). Qualified employers can receive $1,500 to $2,500 per new job, in addition to a 5 year income tax reduction up to 50% and 15 year carry forward for unused credits
To learn more about additional incentives and opportunities, click here.
Commercial Development Program
This program offers up to a 50% tax abatement for up to 10 years for approved projects and boosts commercial development opportunities in the region that may otherwise not be supported.
The program carefully assesses the value-add that these projects can bring to the community with consideration to items such as:
- Redevelopment of blighted spaces
- Attainable workforce housing
- Improvements made to public utilities
- Green space and/or other outdoor enhancements
- Inclusion of mixed use space
- Parking access for general public use
- Overall economic impact and benefit
Community Partners
