(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall suspend the driver’s license and vehicle registration of a person who fails to pay personal property tax on a vehicle. The request to suspend must be an electronic notification from the county treasurer of the county in which the tax is delinquent. Before the electronic notification is sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the county treasurer shall notify the delinquent taxpayer of the pending suspension by letter. The letter must be developed by the county treasurers in conjunction with the Department of Motor Vehicles and used uniformly throughout the State. The letter must advise the person of the pending suspension and the steps necessary to prevent the suspension from being entered on the person’s driving and registration records. A county must allow thirty days for the payment of taxes before the county notifies the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the person’s driver’s license and vehicle registration.

(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of §§ 56-1-460 and 56-9-500, a charge of driving under suspension if the suspension is solely for failure to pay property taxes or the reinstatement fee required for the property tax suspension does not require proof of financial responsibility. A person is not subject to a custodial arrest solely for being under suspension pursuant to provisions contained in this section. Upon conviction:

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 12-37-2740

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • person: includes any individual, trust, estate, partnership, receiver, association, company, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity or group; and

    (2) "individual" means a human being. See South Carolina Code 12-2-20
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.

(1) For a first offense under this section, the penalty is a fine not to exceed fifty dollars.

(2) For a second offense under this section, the penalty is a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars.

(3) For a third or subsequent offense under this section, the penalty is a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment not to exceed thirty days, or both.

(C) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (A) and (B) of this section or the provisions of § 56-1-460, a charge of driving under suspension issued solely as a result of this section must be dismissed if the person provides proof on the person’s court date that the personal property taxes on the vehicle which resulted in the charge being issued have been paid.

(D) Before the reinstatement of a driver’s license or vehicle registration suspended pursuant to this section, a fee of fifty dollars must be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles. An amount equal to the actual departmental direct costs related to suspension and reinstatement actions pursuant to this section must be placed by the Comptroller General into the State Highway Fund as established by § 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in § 11-43-167. Fees collected in excess of actual departmental direct costs related to suspension and reinstatement actions pursuant to this section must be deposited to the credit of the general fund of the State at the end of each fiscal year.

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