Visitors to Hilton Head could find themselves paying a little extra for food and drink if a proposed hospitality tax goes into effect in May 2005. The 2% tax is currently before the Hilton Head Town Council and stands a good chance of passing, partially due to the convoluted tax laws in Beaufort County.

Under South Carolina law towns may charge a maximum of 2%, while, each county may charge up a hospitality tax of up to 1% - but not if the town is already doing so. So Hilton Head’s tax may be seen as a preemtive measure to stop the county from imposing their own tax.

The tax rate in Hilton Head is currently at 1%, used for the emergency services, but a doubling of that rate could see an extra $2.2 million in the town’s coffers, with current speculation being that this would be used to improve local infrastructure.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 12th, 2005 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Hilton Head News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.