All taxes, assessments and penalties legally assessed shall be considered and held as a debt payable to the county by the person against whom they shall be charged and such taxes, assessments and penalties shall be a first lien in all cases whatsoever upon the property taxed, the lien to attach at the beginning of the fiscal year during which the tax is levied. Such taxes shall be first paid out of assets of any estate of deceased persons or held in trust as assignee or trustee or the proceeds of any property held on execution or attachment. The county treasurer may enforce such lien by execution against such property or, if it cannot be levied on, he may proceed by action at law against the person holding such property.
S.C. Code Ann. § 12-49-10
Taxes, assessments and penalties constitute a debt due State and a first lien upon property; enforcement
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case In Re Skinner Lumber Co., Inc. (1983)
Most recently applied in Taylor v. Aiken County Assessor (March 2013)
1962 Code SECTION 65-2701; 1952 Code SECTION 65-2701; 1942 Code SECTION 2569; 1932 Code SECTION 2569; Civ
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Carolina Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.