IRS to Provide Tax Relief to Flood Victims

IRS Provides Tax Relief to South Carolina Flood Victims; Oct. 15 Tax Deadline Extended to Feb. 16

WASHINGTON ––South Carolina flood victims, including individuals and businesses that previously received a tax-filing extension to Oct. 15, will have until Feb. 16, 2016, to file their returns and pay any taxes due, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. All workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization also qualify for relief.
Following this week’s disaster declaration for individual assistance issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the IRS said that affected taxpayers in Berkeley, Charleston, Clarendon, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter and Williamsburg Counties will receive this and other special tax relief. Other locations may be added in coming days, based on damage assessments by FEMA.
The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Oct. 1, 2015. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Feb. 16, 2016, to file these returns and pay any taxes due. Besides the Oct. 15 extension deadline, this also includes the Jan. 15, 2016, deadline for making quarterly estimated tax payments. A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected including the Nov. 2, 2015, and Feb. 1, 2016, deadlines for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns.
The IRS will abate any interest, late-payment or late-filing penalty that would otherwise apply. The agency automatically provides this relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. Taxpayers need not contact the IRS to get this relief.

Beyond Designated Disaster Areas
The IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.
Individuals and businesses who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either last year’s or this year’s return. Claiming these casualty loss deductions on either an original or amended 2014 return will get the taxpayer an earlier refund but waiting to claim them on a 2015 return could result in greater tax savings depending upon other income factors.
In addition, the IRS is waiving late-deposit penalties for federal payroll and excise tax deposits normally due on or after Oct. 1 and before Oct. 16 if the deposits are made by Oct. 16, 2015. Details on available relief can be found on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.
The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by severe storms and flooding and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, visit disasterassistance.gov.
Disaster victims in other parts of the country also qualify for tax relief, based on federal disaster declarations issued earlier this year. Currently, individuals and businesses in parts of California, Kentucky, Texas and the Northern Mariana Islands may qualify for filing and payment relief. See the IRS Disaster Relief page for details.

Thank you to the IRS Newswire for sending this information and providing the details in issue number IR-2015-112.

South Carolina ranked 7th in nation for business climate

Site Selection magazine ranked South Carolina 7th in the nation for best business climate.  Click here to read the complete report at GSA Business.

SC Identity Theft Protection News

In 2012, the SC Department of Revenue was hacked and nearly every South Carolina citizen and business became at risk of identity theft. In response the State of South Carolina has offered free credit monitoring through Experian. That contract expires this month.

New coverage begins October 24 through CSIdentity Corp.  The State of South Carolina is paying CSIdentity up to $8.5 million to provide credit monitoring to anyone affected by the breach of state computers, so there is no charge to you for the service. However, the initial service is not transferable between the two companies.  Therefore, you will need to sign-up again for the free credit monitoring.

Eligible taxpayers can now sign up for the identity protection through CSIdentity by doing one of the following:

Click here
Visit www.scidprotection.com
Call 855-880-2743

Enrollment will remain open until October 1, 2014, and CSIdentity's service will end October 31, 2014, unless renewed by the State of South Carolina.

More information regarding the changeover also is available through the South Carolina Department of Revenue website, www.sctax.org.

GSA Business: South Carolina tied for second among states for business development

According to Area Development, a magazine specializing in site selection and facility planning, South Carolina and Georgia are ranked second in the country of top states for conducting business.  Texas ranks first.  Click here to read more at GSA Business.

S.C. recognized for business friendly policies.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranked South Carolina as one of the nations entrepreneur-friendly states. The index takes a look at 46 different policy measures including an assortment of tax, regulatory, and government spending measures. The Palmetto State was ranked No.14 on the council's annual index of states with the friendliest policies and lowest costs for small business. According to the council, South Carolina earned its ranking for our fairly low individual capital gains tax, no inheritance tax, low consumption- based taxes, low fuel taxes; and a low number of health insurance mandates. However, our 7% personal income tax plus high dividend and interest taxes were listed as negatives, along with high workers compensation costs and a high crime rate.

South Dakota ranked as the councils No. 1 entrepreneur-friendly state followed by Nevada at No. 2; Texas, No. 3; Wyoming, No.4; and Florida, No.5.

In contrast, the states with the least favorable policies include Maine at No. 46; New York at 47, Vermont at 48, New Jersey at 49, and California at No. 50.

"Small businesses are benefiting from policy competition between the states and it is encouraging to see leadership on key issues such as fiscal reform, sensible spending, and tax and regulatory relief." Karen Kerrigan council president  and CEO.

For more information on the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council click here.

Best states for business- South Carolina is #2

Area Development Magazine has come up with the rankings for new and expanding businesses in the United States and South Carolina is ranked No.2. On the heels of Texas, South Carolina has moved up from fourth place in 2011 in part because of growing exports and $3.4 billion dollars worth of investments. Some of those investments include Bridgestone America's $1.2 billion expansion, BMW's expansion- bringing their investment in the state to almost $6 billion. There is also Michelin North America's investment of nearly $1billion in plants around the state creating 500 jobs.
So, you might ask your self why is South Carolina so appealing? Well, South Carolina offers great training/ development programs, competitive labor, and a willing workforce with the advanced skill sets needed for new operations. Editors of the magazine pointed out that Ready SC , South Carolina's workforce development program, has trained more than 250,000 workers for 2,000 companies.

More GREAT things happening in South Carolina: Ranked No.2 for overall business climate, No.3 for infrastructure and global access, and tied for No. 5 in leading the economic recovery.

For more information on this article please see GSA Business Journal or Area Development Magazine

Study shows increase in South Carolina home sales for July

The S.C. Realtors said in their monthly home sales report that sales are up by 13.4% statewide. Which indicates a trend toward rising prices and more homes sold in a shorter time on the market. This is great for many sellers who have waited to place their homes on the market as new listings in South Carolina increased 2% and pending sales were up 11%. Another great sign for optimistic sellers is that the inventory of unsold homes has gone down 15.1% and low interest rates have helped as they dipped below 3.49% for a 30-yr fixed mortgage.  However, we still have a ways to go before sustained recovery as consumers are still lacking confidence in both the economy and their family finances.
The strongest increases in the number of homes sold were in the Spartanburg and Hilton Head markets reaching 25% in both areas.

Here are some market facts:

• The strongest price range was $200,001-$300,000 with a 15.4% increase in sales during July, compared with the year-earlier month.
• The bedroom count with the strongest sales in July was 4 bedroom or more, and sales up 15.1%.
• Condominiums were the property type with the strongest sales, up 11.4%. 

Huffington Post: South Carolina ranks 8th in the top 15 states for female entrepreneurs

According to a report in the Huffington Post, South Carolina is the 8th best state in the nation for growth in women-owned businesses. 

According to the report, nationally women-owned businesses have grown at a rate 1.5 times faster than all businesses--50 percent since 1997.  In South Carolina, the growth rate for the same period was 63.6 percent.  There were 105,100 women-owned businesses in South Carolina in 2011. 

The number one state for women-owned businesses?: Georgia.  Eight of the top 15 states are in the South.  Read the report at huffingtonpost.com by clicking here.

GSA Business: S.C. Ranks 16th in Friendliness Toward Small Businesses

South Carolina ranked No. 16 nationally for friendliness toward small business, according to a recent survey by Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The Palmetto State received an overall grade of B+, garnering mostly high marks in the two-month survey that involved 6,000 small-business owners nationwide.

Other key findings for South Carolina included:

• It costs relatively little to hire a new employee in South Carolina — the state was the second-least costly place in the nation to hire a new employee. 
• Women-owned small businesses in South Carolina were significantly more optimistic about their financial future than their male counterparts. Female entrepreneurs were 15% more likely than male entrepreneurs to rate their company's financial situation as likely to improve over the coming year. 

The state received a grade of A+ for the ease of starting a small business, cost of hiring a new employee and friendliness of environmental regulations. It received an A for overall regulatory friendliness, and friendliness of employment, labor and hiring regulations.

Read the entire report at GSA Business by clicking here.

CEOs rank South Carolina 7th best state in which to do business

Chief Executive magazine ranked South Carolina the seventh best state in which to do business, an improvement of one spot from the 2011 survey.

The top states include:

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. North Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. Indiana
6. Virginia
7. South Carolina

The bottom states include:

   44. Connecticut

   45. New Jersey

   46. Michigan

   47. Massachusetts

   48. Illinois

   49. New York

   50. California

The survey asked 650 CEOs to rate states in the areas of tax, regulation, quality of work force, and living environment.  According to the report, most of the top 20 states are right-to-work states.

Read the complete report at ChiefExecutive.net by clicking here.

Federal Reserve: South Carolina and Michigan have the best economic outlooks

According to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, South Carolina is one of two states that are expected to a growth rate of 4.5 percent or better in the Fed's coincident index, or gross state product, in the first six months of 2012.

Both South Carolina and Michigan top the Fed's list of prospects for rapid growth in the next few months.  Both state's have experienced significant improvements in employment.

The Greenville News reported on this story over the weekend.  Read their report at greenvilleonline.com by clicking here.

GSA Business: South Carolina a top state for business

A study of U.S. corporate executives listed South Carolina as third in the nation for best business climate.  Texas and North Carolina topped the list.  California, New York, and Illinois bring up the rear.

Development Counselors International conducted the study, called "Winning Strategies for Economic Development Marketing."  The study is conducted every three years.

Tops on the list of factors cited by survey respondents are low operating costs and a pro-business climate.

Read the entire article at GSA Business by clicking here.