South Carolina S 853: Abandoned Buildings Tax Credit

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 853 Text of Previous Version (May. 13, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 853

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter 
Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

May 13, 2026

S. 853

Introduced by Senators Davis, Hutto, Sutton, 
Graham, Turner, Stubbs, Matthews, Zell, Campsen, Kimbrell and Walker 

S. Printed 5/13/26--H.

Read the first time February 26, 2026

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH 
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 12-67-120, RELATING TO THE ABANDONED 
BUILDINGS REVITALIZATION ACT DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT THE EXISTENCE 
OF AN INCOME-PRODUCING USE PRIOR TO THE PERIOD OF ABANDONMENT IS NOT A REQUIREMENT 
FOR ELIGIBILITY; BY AMENDING SECTION 12-67-130, RELATING TO APPLICABILITY, SO 
AS TO MAKE A CONFORMING CHANGE; BY AMENDING SECTION 12-67-140, RELATING TO 
ELIGIBILITY FOR THE CREDIT, SO AS TO CLARIFY CERTAIN TIMING CONSIDERATIONS 
RELATED TO THE FILING OF A NOTICE OF INTENT TO REHABILITATE AN ABANDONED 
BUILDING AND TO CLARIFY THAT ABANDONED BUILDING TAX CREDITS MAY NOT SERVE AS 
COLLATERAL FOR ANY DEBT; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 12-67-160, RELATING TO THE 
CERTIFICATION OF ABANDONED BUILDING SITES, SO AS TO REMOVE A REQUIREMENT FOR 
CERTAIN CERTIFICATIONS OF STATE-OWNED ABANDONED BUILDING SITES.

 Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 12-67-120 (1), (2), (6), and (8) of the S.C. 
Code is amended to read:

 (1) "Abandoned building" means a 
building or structure, which clearly may be delineated from other buildings or 
structures, at least sixty-six percent of the space in which has been closed unoccupied continuously to business or otherwise nonoperational for income producing purposes for a period of at least 
five years immediately preceding the date on which the taxpayer files a "Notice 
of Intent to Rehabilitate". For purposes of this item, a building or structure 
that otherwise qualifies as an "abandoned building" may be subdivided into 
separate units or parcels, which units or parcels may be owned by the same 
taxpayer or different taxpayers, and each unit or parcel is deemed to be an 
abandoned building site for purposes of determining whether each subdivided 
parcel is considered to be abandoned. For purposes of this item, an abandoned 
building is not a building or structure with an immediate preceding use as a 
single-family residence. For purposes of this item, use of any portion of a 
building or structure listed on the National Register for Historic Places when 
used solely for storage or warehouse purposes is considered nonoperational for income producing purposes; provided, however, that 
the credit provided under Section 12-67-140(B) is further limited by 
disqualifying for credit purposes the portion of the building or structure that 
was operational and used as a for 
storage or warehouse for income producing purposes. 
This limitation is calculated based on the actual percentage of the space which 
has been closed unoccupied continuously 
to business or otherwise nonoperational for income producing purposes for a period of at least 
five years immediately preceding the date on which the taxpayer files a "Notice 
of Intent to Rehabilitate" divided by one hundred percent.

 (2) 
"Building site" means the abandoned building together with the parcel of land 
upon which it is located and other improvements located on the parcel. However, 
the area of the building site is limited to the land upon which the abandoned 
building is located and the land immediately surrounding such building used for 
parking and other similar purposes directly related to the building's income producing use.

 (6) 
"Rehabilitation expenses" means the expenses or capital expenditures incurred 
in the rehabilitation, demolition, renovation, or redevelopment of the building 
site, including without limitations, the renovation or redevelopment of 
existing buildings, environmental remediation, site improvements, and the 
construction of new buildings and other improvements on the building site, but 
excluding the cost of acquiring the building site or the cost of personal 
property located at the building site. For expenses associated with a building 
site to qualify for the tax credit, the abandoned buildings on the building 
site must be either renovated or redeveloped. Rehabilitation expenses 
associated with a building site that increases the amount of square footage on 
the building site in excess of two hundred percent of the amount of square 
footage of the buildings that existed on the building site as of the filing of 
the Notice of Intent to Rehabilitate shall not be considered a rehabilitation 
expense for purposes of calculating the amount of the credit. Notwithstanding 
any other provision o