(AP) -- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina lawmakers said Thursday that the state should send auditors across the country to collect unpaid taxes from multinational corporations as part of a proposal that aims to help balance the state's $5.8 billion spending plan.
The plan would give the state Revenue Department $4 million to hire, equip and send auditors around the nation to audit companies in an effort to collect at least $80 million in unpaid South Carolina taxes.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman said the $4 million would help rebuild the Revenue Department's staff after years of budget cuts that closed offices around the state and prompted some to take paying taxes less seriously.
"The thought got out there that DOR is not doing as much auditing: 'We can get by with this, that and the other.' I think what they're doing is rebuilding to go after all tax cheats," Leatherman said.
The proposal is part of the patchwork of cash and cuts that would keep South Carolina operating in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Debate on the budget is to continue Tuesday.
South Carolina's proposed general fund spending is up from $5 billion last year because the economy is improving and generating surpluses and the state now is able to spend $157 million generated by a cigarette tax increase. But the growth hasn't been enough to cover a surge in people eligible for Medicaid, and that's forced spending cuts in the program for the elderly, poor and disabled as well as plans to cut reimbursements for doctors and hospitals.
Under the proposal considered by the state Senate, a revenue department crackdown would help a handful of programs: $28 million for state Medicaid programs; about $20 million for public schools; nearly $7 million for vaccines for uninsured children, AIDS drugs, infectious disease prevention and cancer screenings; and $2 million to update blood-alcohol test gear.
Revenue Department Director Jim Etter said the crackdown relies on data the IRS provides that yield leads what he calls "foreign audits."
That work typically turns up companies that haven't properly allocated expenses between states. For instance, they may have shown more expenses for operations in South Carolina than they actually had. That would lower their South Carolina tax bill.
"We just haven't had the manpower to concentrate more on these types of audits in the past," Etter said. The extra cash would add nine auditors, equipment and cover travel costs.
In other action the Senate: A set up a potential veto fight with Gov. Nikki Haley over how
the state pays for public television.
Haley wanted the taxpayer cash eliminated from South Carolina ETV's budget. Senators had tried to go along with that by letting ETV keep money it charges
other state agencies, but stripping it of general taxpayer money.
That was rejected with a 25-18 vote in an effort led by state Sen.
Vincent Sheheen, a Camden Democrat who ran against Haley last year agreed to bar use of state planes for politicians to attend news conference, political functions or bill signings.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said he was tired of the state's
planes being used for such events when the state can't afford to buy school buses. "If people want to use these state planes for press conferences, ceremonial bill signings and political functions, let them pay for it out of their political accounts,"
said McConnell, a Charleston Republican.
The measure passed on a voice vote and rejected a measure that would have required legislators provide more details about who pays for their work outside the
Statehouse.
Sen. David Thomas, a Fountain Inn Republican, said legislators should have to provide more details of sources of income above $200.
Republican senators complained that would give their business competitors too much information. Lt. Gov. Ken Ard ruled the proposal violated a Senate rule that bars changing permanent state law with a budget amendment.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
