S.C. Code Ann. § 12-43-232 — Requirements for agricultural use

In addition to all other requirements for real property to be classified as agricultural real property, the property must meet the following requirements:
(1)(a) If the tract is used to grow timber, the tract must be five acres or more. Tracts of timberland of less than five acres which are contiguous to or are under the same management system as a tract of timberland which meets the minimum acreage requirement are treated as part of the qualifying tract. Tracts of timberland of less than five acres are eligible to be agricultural real property when they are owned in combination with other tracts of nontimberland agricultural real property that qualify as agricultural real property. For the purposes of this item, tracts of timberland must be devoted actively to growing trees for commercial use.
(b) A tract which meets the acreage requirement of subitem (a) of this item devoted to growing Christmas trees is considered timberland. A Christmas tree tract not meeting the acreage requirement qualifies as agricultural property if the landowner reports gross income from Christmas trees that meets the income test provided in item (3) of this section, mutatis mutandis.
(2) For tracts not used to grow timber as provided in item (1) of this section, the tract must be ten acres or more. Nontimberland tracts of less than ten acres which are contiguous to other such tracts which, when added together, meet the minimum acreage requirement, are treated as a qualifying tract. For purposes of this item (2) only, contiguous tracts include tracts with identical owners of record separated by a dedicated highway, street, or road or separated by any other public way.
(3)(a) Nontimberland tracts not meeting the acreage requirement of item (2) qualify as agricultural real property if the person making the application required pursuant to Section 12-43-220(d)(3) earned at least one thousand dollars of gross farm income for at least three of the five taxable years preceding the year of the application. The assessor may require the applicant (i) to give written authorization consistent with privacy laws allowing the assessor to verify farm income from the Department of Revenue or the Internal Revenue Service and (ii) to provide the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) farm identification number of the tract and allow verification with the ASCS office.
(b) An owner making an initial application required pursuant to Section 12-43-220(d)(3) for a nontimberland tract of less than ten acres may claim the property as agricultural real property for each year for the first five years of operation if he earned at least one thousand dollars of gross farm income in at least three of the first five years. The assessor may require the new owner (i) to give written authorization consistent with privacy laws allowing the assessor to verify farm income from the Department of Revenue or the Internal Revenue Service and (ii) to provide the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) farm identification number of the tract and allow verification with the ASCS office.
If the new owner fails to meet the income requirements in the five-year period, the tract is not considered agricultural real property and is subject to the rollback tax.
(c) Real property idle under a federal or state land retirement program or property idle pursuant to accepted agricultural practices is agricultural real property if the property otherwise would have qualified as agricultural real property subject to satisfactory proof to the assessor.
(d) Unimproved real property subject to a perpetual conservation easement as provided in Chapter 8, Title 27 is agricultural real property if the property otherwise would have qualified as agricultural real property subject to satisfactory proof to the assessor.
(e) A nontimberland tract that does not meet the acreage or income requirements of this section to be classified as agricultural real property must nevertheless be classified as agricultural real property if the current owner or an immediate family member of the current owner has owned the property for at least the ten years ending January 1, 1994, and the property is classified as agricultural real property for property tax year 1994.
The property must continue to be classified as agricultural real property until the property is applied to some other use or until the property is transferred to other than an immediate family member, whichever occurs first. For purposes of this subitem, "immediate family" is a person related to the current owner within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity and a trust all of whose noncontingent beneficiaries are related to the grantor of the trust within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity.
(4) In the case of rented or leased agricultural real property, either the lessor or the lessee shall meet the requirements of this section.
(5)(a) On the application required pursuant to Section 12-43-220(d)(3), the owner or his agent shall certify substantially as follows: Subject to the penalty provided in Section 12-43-340, either:
(i) "I certify that the property which is the subject of this application meets the requirements to qualify as agricultural real property as of January first of the current tax year"; or
(ii) "I certify that the property which is the subject of this application meets the requirements to qualify as agricultural real property and for the special assessment ratio for certain agricultural real property as of January first of the current tax year".
(b) If it is determined that the property for which the certification was made did not meet the requirements to qualify for agricultural use classification at the time the certification was made, the property which is the subject of the certification is denied agricultural use value for the property tax year or years in question and in lieu of the rollback tax, the tax on the property for each tax year in question must be recalculated using fair market value, the appropriate assessment ratio, and the appropriate millage. There must be deducted from the recalculated tax liability any taxes paid for the year and the penalties provided pursuant to Section 12-45-180 must be added to the balance due. Interest at the rate of one percent a month must be added to the unpaid taxes calculated from the last penalty date. Additional property tax revenues derived from the operation of this section changing agricultural use property to some other use must be used only for the purpose of rolling back property tax millage.