Individual Income Tax Filing Season Opens

The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) and the IRS began accepting Individual Income Tax returns Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.

The filing deadline for both state and federal returns is Monday, April 15, 2024.

The SCDOR will begin processing returns Feb. 5 to allow employers time to meet the Jan. 31 W-2 submission deadline.  

As you prepare to file your return, SCDOR officials say use the online tools and resources readily available from the SCDOR and the IRS. Go to dor.sc.gov/iit and  IRS.gov to get started. 

They also say:

Make sure you have all W-2s, 1099s, and other necessary documents before you file – Year-end pay stubs may not match what your employer reports to us, which can slow down processing. If you need a copy of your 2021 or 2022 return, remember you can now  access transcripts of past SC Individual Income Tax returns using MyDORWAY ( MyDORWAY.dor.sc.gov), the SCDOR's free online tax portal. If you're looking for transcripts of past federal returns, log in to your IRS Online Account.

Check out  our YouTube channel and Tax Tips articles for 24/7 assistance  – Over 170,000 customers have visited dor.sc.gov/YouTube and watched an explainer video. And don't forget about dor.sc.gov/tax-tips, where officials publish helpful advice throughout the year.

Be sure the SCDOR and your employer have your current address – Customers with a  MyDORWAY account can update their address with the SCDOR by logging in, clicking the More tab, and selecting Manage Names & Addresses. Those without a MyDORWAY account can use the SC8822I.

Choose the online filing method that's right for you. Filing online with a reputable provider is convenient, secure, and accurate. Many South Carolinians are eligible to file online for free with easy-to-use tax preparation software. Go to dor.sc.gov/iit-filing to view all of your filing options. 

Choose direct deposit – Direct deposit is the fastest and safest refund option, since your refund is deposited directly into your bank account. Learn more about why direct deposit is the SCDOR's preferred refund option at dor.sc.gov/refund.

Allow time for processing and fraud prevention
Tax return and refund processing is expected to take up to 8 weeks from Feb. 5 or the date you file, whichever is later, to allow the SCDOR to use all available tools to check for fraud and protect your refund. 

Track your refund
Check your refund status anytime using the Where's My Refund tool at  dor.sc.gov/refund. Keep in mind that if you choose a paper check refund, your processing time may be longer. 

New for the 2024 filing season:

Changes to the Two Wage Earner Credit  – The maximum earned income for the credit is $50,000, while the maximum credit is $350. The credit can only be taken by couples whose filing status is Married Filing Jointly.

An increase in the dependent exemption – The exemption amount for tax year 2023 is $4,610. The exemption is allowed for each eligible dependent, including both qualifying children and qualifying relatives.

An increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – Full-year residents may claim the South Carolina EITC if they are eligible for and claim the federal credit. For tax year 2023, the EITC is equal to 125% of the federal credit allowed the taxpayer.

A reduction in Income Tax rates – The 2023 top marginal Individual Income Tax rate is 6.4 percent. Use the 2023 South Carolina Individual Income Tax Tables to determine your tax rate.

CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc. Completes $12 Million Common Stock Offering

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina-based CoastalSouth Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Coastal States Bank, announced that on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, it completed a private placement of common stock for gross proceeds of approximately $12 million.

CoastalSouth said it intends to use the net proceeds from the private placement for general corporate purposes, including continued growth and maintenance of bank level regulatory capital ratios.

"CSB's performance during 2023 was outstanding, both from a growth and profitability standpoint," said Stephen Stone, president and chief executive officer of CoastalSouth and CSB.  "We are very fortunate to enjoy a strong and supportive shareholder base and we are excited about our prospects for continued growth."   

Alston & Bird LLP served as legal counsel to the company.

Established in 2003, CoastalSouth Bancshares, Inc. (OTCQX: COSO) had approximately $2 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31, 2023. 

With a community bank presence in the Lowcountry of South Carolina (Hilton Head Island and Bluffton), Savannah, and Atlanta, CSB also serves communities across the country through its Government Guaranteed Lending, Senior Housing, Mortgage Banker Finance, and Marine Lending lines of business.

Richmond Fed Launches Program to Encourage Rural Investment

In the nearly two years since the Richmond Fed began partnering with community leaders to help small towns and rural areas across five states become economically sound, an alliance has formed that could be game-changing.

Together, these leaders and the bank strategized to establish the Rural Investment Collaborative, an initiative that aims to help communities across Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia develop successful proposals that can secure funding for their local projects.

Members of the Rural Investment Collaborative’s steering group and project development workgroup have partnered with the bank’s Community Development team to advance the effort, and their first signature project launches – a 12-week virtual program called the Community Investment Training.

“This training will equip 20 rural leaders, who were selected by the Collaborative’s steering group and project work group, to receive strategic guidance on how to meet the requirements for significant funding opportunities,” said Jason Smith, the Richmond Fed’s senior community development advisor, who is leading the Rural Investment Collaborative.

Smith added, “Some of these rural areas have not had the resources, capacity, nor the access needed to develop proposals that would secure large-scale funding. The Community Investment Training will teach them how and what to do, and when.”

Members of the 2024 Community Investment Training cohort hail from rural regions across five states in the Richmond Fed territory. They each submitted ideas for a local community project they would like to have funded.

During the training sessions, Collaborative leaders and guest speakers will walk them through the steps to creating effective partnerships within their communities, honing their funding pitches, developing the infrastructure to sustain their projects and more.

This year’s Community Investment Training participants are:

MARYLAND

Stefanie Johnson, Executive Director, His Hope Ministries, Caroline County, Maryland

Craig Sewell, Project Director, Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC), Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Carla Wilson, Project Manager, St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation, St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

NORTH CAROLINA

Paula Swepson Avery, Executive Director, West Marion Community Forum Inc., McDowell County, North Carolina

Angela Caraway, Executive Director, The Caraway Foundation, Anson County, North Carolina

Mavis Hill, Executive Director, Tyrrell County Community Development Corporation, Tyrrell/Washington County, North Carolina

Anthony Tyre, Executive Director, Clear Point, Beaufort County, North Carolina

Chester Williams, Chief Executive Officer, A Better Chance A Better Community (ABC2), Enfield/Halifax County, North Carolina.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Kim Bowman, Founder, South Carolina’s Rural Innovation Network (SCRIN), Darlington County, South Carolina

Steven Brown, President and Founder, Dreams Imagination & Gift Development Program (DIG), Barnwell County, South Carolina

Eric Delgado, City Administrator, Laurens, South Carolina

Michael Mahaffey, Director of Regional & Global Initiatives, Stoll Industries, Abbeville County, South Carolina

Elizabeth Overton, Deputy Director, Southeastern Housing and Community Development, Barnwell County, South Carolina.

VIRGINIA

Shelby McDowney, Director of Marketing & Communications, Metropolitan Business League, Brunswick County, Virginia

Katie Ryan, Interim CEO/Director of Operations, Clifton Forge School of the Arts, Clifton Forge, Virginia

Melisha Wynne, Assistant Recreation Director, Town of Abingdon Recreation Department, Washington County, Virginia.

WEST VIRGINIA

Jarrod Dean, Executive Director, City of Williamson Board of Parks and Recreation Commission, Mingo County, West Virginia

Victor Farmer, Director, Boone Memorial Hospital Community Health Foundation/Boone Memorial Hospital Inc., Boone County, Virginia

Jamila Jones, President, Innovative Community Solutions, Jefferson County, West Virginia

Jennifer Phar, Community & Business Development, Director, Element Federal Credit Union Kanawha County, West Virginia.

Collaborating to improve capital access in small towns and rural communities is a core focus for the Richmond Fed.

Carrie Cook, the bank's community affairs officer and vice president of Community Development, noted that the partnership with rural leaders and with funding organizations is part of what makes the approach to advancing economic mobility for under-served communities innovative.

The Richmond Fed hosted a daylong rural funders event in May 2023, which included leaders from Bloomberg Philanthropy, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Harvest Foundation and other entities, to gauge their interest in learning more about rural funding needs and to determine how they as funders might collaborate on streamlining access to public and private investment.

“Availability of funding does not mean that all rural communities are able to access it,” said Smith, the initiative's leader.

Smith added, “The Collaborative partners want to understand how the supply of money to rural communities could be better coordinated so that more small towns can benefit. They plan to use this information to improve their own funding processes and to inform other decision-makers.”

This year’s training cohort members will apply the knowledge they’re gaining in weekly sessions to the draft proposals for their community projects. The training sessions will culminate with an opportunity to practice their proposal presentations.

Each participant also will receive a $2,000 grant provided by the Collaborative that they can use to develop a coalition of local support for their project proposals.

Congressional Medal of Honor Society Announces Passing of Medal of Honor Recipient Larry L. Taylor

The Mount Pleasant, South Carolina-based Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced that Larry L. Taylor, 81, a recipient of the Medal of Honor for the Vietnam War, passed away Jan. 28, 2024, at his home in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., presented Taylor with the Medal of Honor at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 5, 2023, for his actions near the village of Ap Go Cong, Binh Du'ong Providence, Vietnam.

Then-1st Lt. Taylor was commander of a team of two Cobra helicopter gunships responding to an urgent call for support by a four-man patrol team. Once reaching the area, Taylor and his wingman targeted the enemy encircling the patrol team, flying multiple low-level passes under intense enemy fire.

As the gunships' ammunition ran low, Taylor continued to make fake gun runs at low altitude to distract the enemy from the men on the ground.

He observed that the patrol team's planned evacuation route was unviable, given the heavy fire they were still encountering. Taylor then landed his helicopter 100 yards away, still under intense enemy fire, to meet the patrol team on the ground.

With the team climbing onboard wherever they could, including seated on rocket-pods and skids, Taylor was able to evacuate the entire patrol team, thereby saving their lives.

Born on Feb. 12, 1942, after graduating from Chattanooga High School (Chattanooga, Tennessee), Taylor attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and joined its U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program.

He was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant in the Army Reserve upon graduation in June 1966. He volunteered for the regular Army in August.

He attended the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters, Texas, and then advanced helicopter training at Fort Novosel (formerly Fort Rucker, Alabama), where he qualified as an Army aviator in June 1967.

Taylor flew more than 2,000 combat missions, first in a UH-1 Huey helicopter before becoming one of the first AH-1 Cobra helicopters pilots during the Vietnam War. 

Taylor's awards include the Medal of Honor (upgraded from the Silver Star), the Bronze Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, numerous Air Medals and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star.

He subsequently was assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Germany. Upon leaving active duty as a captain, Taylor operated a successful roofing and sheet metal company in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

He was actively engaged in veterans' organizations and his church, and known to be a philanthropist, supporting various charitable nonprofits in the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area. He is survived by his wife, Toni, and other family members. Funeral arrangements were pending.

There are 63 Medal of Honor recipients alive today.

Allow us to tell your company's Business Narrative. Send your press release to David Dykes or for more information email [email protected]