South Carolina Code 56-31-50. Motor vehicle rental fees; definitions; good faith estimates; disclosures; excess fees; taxes
(1) "Motor vehicle rental company" means an individual or business entity whose business activity is renting motor vehicles to consumers under rental agreements for periods of ninety days or less.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 56-31-50
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Rental agreement: means a written agreement setting forth the terms and conditions governing the use of a private passenger automobile or rental vehicle provided by a rental company. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
- Rental company: means a person in the business of providing private passenger automobiles or rental vehicles to the public under the terms of a rental agreement. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
- Rental vehicle: means a truck under 26,001 pounds gross vehicle weight and used in the transportation of personal property that is rented without a driver, and is not used by the customer for business purposes, or a trailer with a gross weight of not more than 6,000 pounds. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
- Renter: means a person obtaining the use of a private passenger automobile or rental vehicle from a rental company under the terms of a rental agreement. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
- vehicle: means a private passenger motor vehicle including passenger vans and minivans that are intended primarily for the transport of persons. See South Carolina Code 56-31-20
(2) "Vehicle license fee" means a charge that may be separately stated and charged on the rental contract in a vehicle rental transaction originating in this State to recover the motor vehicle rental company‘s costs incurred for:
(a) licensing, titling, registering, plating, and inspecting of its rental vehicles; and
(b) taxes paid in connection with registering its rental vehicles.
(B) Rental companies engaged in the business of renting vehicles for periods of ninety days or less may charge, at the time the vehicle or rental vehicle is rented in South Carolina, separately stated fees which may include, but must not be limited to, vehicle license fees, airport access fees, airport concession fees, and all applicable taxes. For purposes of this section, a vehicle or rental vehicle is rented in South Carolina if it is picked up by the renter in South Carolina.
(C) If a motor vehicle rental company includes a vehicle license fee for a rental transaction disclosed on the rental agreement, the amount of the charge must represent the good faith estimate by the motor vehicle rental company of its daily charge calculated to recover its actual total annual recoverable costs, pursuant to subsection (A)(2), on its rental motor vehicle fleet for the corresponding calendar year.
(D)(1) If the total amount of the vehicle license fees collected by a motor vehicle rental company pursuant to this section in any calendar year exceeds the actual costs of the car rental company, as allowed under subsection (A)(2), for that calendar year, the car rental company shall:
(a) retain the excess amount; and
(b) adjust the estimated average per vehicle charge for the following calendar year by a corresponding amount.
(2) Nothing in this section may prevent a motor vehicle rental company from making adjustments to a vehicle license fee per vehicle charge during the calendar year to reflect interim developments affecting the motor vehicle rental company’s prior estimated per vehicle fee for that calendar year.
(E)(1) If a motor vehicle rental company charges a vehicle license fee, the amount of the fee must be:
(a) disclosed at the time of reservation and as part of any estimated pricing provided to the renter; and
(b) shown as a separately itemized charge on the rental agreement.
(2) The vehicle license fee must be described in the terms and conditions of the rental agreement as the estimated average per day portion of the motor vehicle company’s costs incurred for:
(a) licensing, titling, registering, plating, and inspecting its rental vehicles; and
(b) taxes paid in connection with registering its rental vehicles.
(F) The vehicle license fee authorized by this section is subject to state and local sales and use tax in the manner and to the same extent as the fee charged for the lease or rental of the rental vehicle.