Sales Tax Exemption for Hydrogen Fuel Cells

South Carolina offers a sales tax exemption for "any device, equipment, or machinery operated by hydrogen or fuel cells, any device, equipment or machinery used to generate, produce, or distribute hydrogen and designated specifically for hydrogen applications or for fuel cell applications, and any device, equipment, or machinery used predominantly for the manufacturing of, or research and development involving hydrogen or fuel cell technologies."

A sales tax exemption may also be taken on building materials used to construct a new or renovated building or purchases of machinery for a research district. A research district is defined as land owned by the state, county or other public entity that is designated by the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University or the Savannah River National Laboratory. If the exemption is taken on building materials, however, the amount of sales tax that would be assessed without the exemption must be re-invested by the taxpayer in hydrogen or fuel cell machinery or equipment in the same research district within two years of the original purchase.