All bingo operators will
be required to obtain their bingo cards/paper by first paying the
tax to the Department of Revenue.
Upon payment of the tax, the Department of Revenue will authorize a
qualified distributor to sell cards/paper to the bingo operator.
However, the cards may be obtained in advance so long as the fee is
paid by certified check within 15 days of obtaining the cards. No
more cards can be sold until the fees have been paid on the prior
purchase of cards.
The Department of Revenue must collect 16.5 cents per dollar face
value of the bingo cards (except for Class C nonprofit
organizations.) Twenty-six percent of this revenue will be
distributed to the sponsoring charities, with the remainder
distributed in accordance with the statute for governmental
purposes.
The Department of Revenue will make distributions to the sponsoring
charities from the tax received by the last day of the month
following the month the revenue was collected.
A promoter is limited to five licenses. Prior law allowed the
promoter to have ten licenses.
At least fifty percent of the gross proceeds for the sale of bingo
cards must be returned to the players in the form of prizes.
A bingo operation may take in only two times more in gross proceeds
that the prize money for that session. Any excess over that amount
is subject to a tax, equal to the amount of the excess. The excess
must be remitted with the quarterly financial report filed with the
Department of Revenue. The bingo tax, including the "excess
portion" tax is distributable in accordance with Code Section
12-21-4190.
In addition to the price of the cards, a bingo operation must charge
an entrance fee as follows: Class AA -$18; Class B -$5; Class C -no
entrance fee. Class D and Class E may impose a fee at their option
as follows: Class D -$5 and Class E -$5.
No more that one nonprofit organization may operate bingo in a
building.
Bingo cards cannot be sold or transferred among other bingo
organizations, distributors, or manufacturers.
Manufacturers and distributors of bingo cards must be licensed. The
manufacturer's license will be $5,000 per year and the distributor's
license will be $2,000 per year. Manufacturers and distributors will
be required to file a quarterly report with the Department of
Revenue.
Manufacturers, distributors, organizations and promoters may only be
licensed in one capacity. For example, promoters cannot be
distributors and manufacturers cannot be distributors.
All bingo licenses, regardless of the date of issue, will expire
after September 30, 1997. A new application must be submitted for
each organization. The new license will become effective October 1,
1997.
A nonprofit organization must be organized and operated for
charitable, religious, or fraternal purposes and must be exempt from
federal income taxes as wither a 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(8),
501(c)(10), or 501(c)(19) organization. Nonprofit organizations not
meeting these criteria may not conduct bingo in South Carolina.
Bingo Games may only occur between the twelve hour period of one
o'clock p.m. and one o'clock a.m.
The nonprofit organization must notify the Department of Revenue of
a change in the time and place of the bingo game at least thirty
days prior to the change.
