Health insurance tax credits

(A) An individual taxpayer meeting the eligibility requirements of subsection(B) of this section may claim as a nonrefundable credit against the income tax imposed pursuant to Section 12-6-510 an amount equal to fifty percent of the premium costs the individual paid during the taxable year for health insurance coverage as defined in Section 38-74-10(5), that offers coverage to the individual, his spouse, or a person he was eligible to claim as a dependent on his federal income tax return, or any combination of these people, for the taxable year. The credit allowed by this section may not exceed three thousand dollars for each qualifying individual covered by a policy for which a credit is claimed. A nonresident who claims the credit allowed by this section shall reduce the amount of the credit in the same manner as nonresident individuals reduce personal exemptions and applicable standard deduction or itemized deductions pursuant to Section 12-6-1720(2). (B) The credit allowed by this section is available only to an individual taxpayer who held a policy of health insurance covering the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or a person the taxpayer was eligible to claim as a dependent on his federal income tax return, or any combination of these people from an insurance company which has withdrawn from writing health insurance policies in this State and the taxpayer, in replacing the insurance with a policy having substantially the same coverage, has been assigned to the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool established pursuant to Chapter 74 of Title 38 with a higher premium than the former policy. (C) A credit is not allowed for premium payments that are deducted or excluded from the taxpayer's income for the taxable year, whether the deduction or exclusion was due to a South Carolina modification pursuant to Article 9 of this chapter or was due to an exclusion or deduction, which resulted in a reduction of the taxpayer's federal taxable income. (D) A taxpayer who claims the credit allowed by this section shall provide information required by the department to demonstrate that the taxpayer is eligible for the credit and that the amount paid for premiums for which the credit is claimed was not excluded from the taxpayer's gross income for the taxable year.