(A) A business that qualifies pursuant to Section 12-10-50(A) and has certified to the council that the business has met the minimum job requirement and minimum capital investment provided for in the revitalization agreement may claim job development credits as determined by this section.

1. (1) A business may claim job development credits against its withholding on its quarterly state withholding tax return for the amount of job development credits allowable pursuant to this section.
2. (2) A business that is current with respect to its withholding tax and other tax due and owing the State and that has maintained its minimum employment and investment levels identified in the revitalization agreement may claim the credit on a quarterly basis beginning with the first quarter after the council's certification to the department that the minimum employment and capital investment levels were met for the entire quarter. If a qualifying business is not current as to all taxes due and owing to the State as of the date of the return on which the credit would be claimed, without regard to extensions, the business is barred from claiming the credit that would otherwise be allowed for that quarter.
3. (3) A qualifying business may claim its initial job development credit only after the council has certified to the department that the qualifying business has met the required minimum employment and capital investment levels.
4. (4) To be eligible to apply to the council to claim a job development credit, a qualifying business shall create at least ten new, full-time jobs, as defined in Section 12-6-3360(M), at the project described in the revitalization agreement within five years of the effective date of the agreement.
5. (5) A qualifying business is eligible to claim a job development credit pursuant to the revitalization agreement for not more than fifteen years.
6. (6) To the extent any return of an overpayment of withholding that results from claiming job development credits is not used as permitted by subsection (C) or by Section 12-10-95, it must be treated as misappropriated employee withholding.
7. (7) Job development credits may not be claimed for purposes of this section with regard to an employee whose job was created in this State before the taxable year of the qualifying business in which it enters into a preliminary revitalization agreement.
8. (8) If a qualifying business claims job development credits pursuant to this section, it shall make its payroll books and records available for inspection by the council and the department at the times the council and the department request. Each qualifying business claiming job development credits pursuant to this section shall file with the council and the department the information and documentation requested by the council or department respecting employee withholding, the job development credit, and the use of any overpayment of withholding resulting from the claiming of a job development credit according to the revitalization agreement.
9. (9) Each qualifying business claiming in excess of ten thousand dollars in a calendar year must furnish to the council and to the department a report that itemizes the sources and uses of the funds. The report must be filed with the council and the department no later than June thirtieth following the calendar year in which the job development credits are claimed, except when a qualifying business obtains the written approval by the council for an extension of that date. Extensions may be granted only for good cause shown. The department shall impose a penalty pursuant to Section 12-54-210 for all reports filed after June thirtieth or the approved extension date, whichever is later. The department shall audit each qualifying business with claims in excess of ten thousand dollars in a calendar year at least once every three years to verify proper sources and uses of the funds.
10. (10) Each qualifying business claiming ten thousand dollars or less in any calendar year must furnish a report prepared by the company that itemizes the sources and uses of the funds. This report must be filed with the council and the department no later than June thirtieth following the calendar year in which the job development credits are claimed, except when a qualifying business obtains the written approval by the council for an extension of that date. Extensions may be granted only for good cause shown. The department shall impose a penalty pursuant to Section 12-54-210 for all reports filed after June thirtieth or the approved extension date, whichever is later.
11. (11) An employer may not claim an amount that results in an employee's receiving a smaller amount of wages on either a weekly or on an annual basis than the employee would receive otherwise in the absence of this chapter.

(B)

1. (1) The maximum job development credit a qualifying business may claim for new employees is limited to the lesser of withholding tax paid to the State on a quarterly basis or the sum of the following amounts:

   1. (a) two percent of the gross wages of each new employee who earns $6.95 or more an hour but less than $9.27 an hour;
   2. (b) three percent of the gross wages of each new employee who earns $9.27 or more an hour but less than $11.58 an hour;
   3. (c) four percent of the gross wages of each new employee who earns $11.58 or more an hour but less than $17.38 an hour; and
   4. (d) five percent of the gross wages of each new employee who earns $17.38 or more an hour.
2. (2) The hourly gross wage figures in item (1) must be adjusted annually by an inflation factor determined by the State Budget and Control Board.

(C) To claim a job development credit, the qualifying business must incur qualified expenditures at the project or for utility or transportation improvements that serve the project. To be qualified, the expenditures must be:

1. (1) incurred during the term of the revitalization agreement, including a preliminary revitalization agreement, or within sixty days before council's receipt of an application for benefits pursuant to this section;
2. (2) authorized by the revitalization agreement; and

3. (3) used for any of the following purposes:

   1. (a) training costs and facilities;
   2. (b) acquiring and improving real estate whether constructed or acquired by purchase, or in cases approved by the council, acquired by lease or otherwise;
   3. (c) improvements to both public and private utility systems including water, sewer, electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications;
   4. (d) fixed transportation facilities including highway, rail, water, and air;
   5. (e) construction or improvements of real property and fixtures constructed or improved primarily for the purpose of complying with local, state, or federal environmental laws or regulations;
   6. (f) employee relocation expenses associated with new or expanded technology intensive facilities as defined in Section 12-6-3360(M)(14) or relocation expenses associated with new national corporate headquarters as defined in Section 12-6-3410(J)(1)(a) that qualify for the enhanced corporate income tax credit under Section 12-6-3410(D);
   7. (g) financing the costs of a purpose described in items (a) through (f).
   8. (h) training for all relevant employees that enable a company to export or increase a company's ability to export its products, including training for logistics, regulatory, and administrative areas connected to the company's export process and other export process training that allows a qualified company to maintain or expand its business in this State;
   9. (i) apprenticeship programs.
   10. (j) quality improvement programs of the South Carolina Quality Forum."

(D)

1. (1) The amount of job development credits a qualifying business may claim for its use for qualifying expenditures is limited according to the designation of the county as defined in Section 12-6-3360(B) as follows:

   1. (a) one hundred percent of the maximum job development credits may be claimed by businesses located in counties designated as distressed or least developed;
   2. (b) eighty-five percent of the maximum job development credits may be claimed by businesses located in counties designated as "underdeveloped";
   3. (c) seventy percent of the maximum job development credits may be claimed by businesses located in counties designated as "moderately developed"; or
   4. (d) fifty-five percent of the maximum job development credits may be claimed by businesses located in counties designated as "developed".
2. (2) The amount that may be claimed as a job development credit by a qualifying business is limited by this subsection and by the revitalization agreement. The council may approve a waiver of ninety-five percent of the limits provided in item (1) for a qualifying business making a significant capital investment as defined in Section 4-12-30(D)(4), 4-29-67(D)(4), or 12-44-30(8).
3. (3) The county designation of the county in which the project is located on the date the application for job development credit incentives is received in the Office of the Coordinating Council remains in effect for the entire period of the revitalization agreement, except as to additional jobs created pursuant to an amendment to a revitalization agreement entered into before June 1, 1997, as provided in Section 12-10-60. In that case the county designation on the date of the amendment remains in effect for the remaining period of the revitalization agreement as to any additional jobs created after the effective date of the amendment. This item does not apply to a business whose application for job development fees or credits pursuant to Section 12-10-81 has been approved by council before the effective date of this act.