Charleston, SC
CPA & Tax Services in Charleston, SC
Haigler CPA Group is a Charleston CPA firm. The office is on Wappoo Drive on James Island, a few minutes from downtown across the Wappoo Cut, and the practice serves business owners, property investors and families across the Charleston area.
A local firm, and what that is worth
Being local is not, by itself, a tax qualification. What it does mean is that the person who prepares your return files South Carolina returns constantly, has seen how the Charleston rental market shows up on a Schedule E, and can meet you without a flight being involved.
Matthew Haigler grew up in Mount Pleasant and is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in South Carolina since 2022 under license number 10843, with a Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcc) from Clemson University. His background is in corporate tax, real estate partnerships and high-net-worth individuals — the sort of work that teaches you where multi-state exposure hides.
What Charleston clients most often bring us
Owner-operated businesses
Charleston runs on small businesses — hospitality, trades, professional services, marine and tourism-adjacent companies. Most are pass-through entities where the business return and the owner's personal return are one tax picture split across two forms, and where entity choice quietly decides the self-employment tax bill.
Rental and short-term rental property
Charleston's rental market brings tax questions that a general preparer meets rarely: passive activity limits, depreciation, the short-term rental participation rules, and 1031 exchanges when a property turns over. Short-term rentals here also sit inside a local regulatory layer — the City of Charleston, Folly Beach, Isle of Palms and Charleston County each set their own permit rules and accommodations levies, and those rules change. Confirm the current requirements for your specific address before you rely on them.
People who moved here
Relocation years are the ones that go wrong quietly. A part-year return in two states, income earned before and after the move, and a former state that takes an active interest in when residency actually changed — it is worth filing that year correctly rather than cheaply.
IRS notices and back taxes
Audits, penalty notices and unfiled years get handled directly with the IRS on your behalf, along with South Carolina Department of Revenue matters, which run their own process and are not resolved by settling federally.
South Carolina, specifically
- South Carolina levies a state income tax; the rate schedule has been reduced in recent years, so plan against the current year's schedule rather than a remembered rate.
- Property held as a rental is assessed differently from an owner-occupied residence in South Carolina, which affects the carrying cost of an investment property.
- Accommodations taxes and short-term rental permits are set locally and vary between the City of Charleston, the beach municipalities and unincorporated Charleston County.
Where we work
Charleston is the only office. Mount Pleasant and Summerville are service areas rather than second locations, and clients there are served from here — in person by appointment, or virtually. Documents move through the secure client portal, so most engagements never require a drive.
Services for Charleston clients
Business Tax
Year-round planning, corporate returns, pass-through entities and multi-state compliance.
Learn morePersonal Tax
1040 preparation, tax-saving strategy, and multi-state or expatriate filings.
Learn moreMergers & Acquisitions Tax
Due diligence, deal structuring, and exit or succession planning.
Learn moreTax Controversy
IRS audits, penalty abatement, appeals, and back-tax resolution.
Learn moreRental Real Estate
Schedule E, depreciation, 1031 exchanges, and the short-term rental loophole.
Learn moreBookkeeping Services
Clean books, reconciled monthly, ready for tax time.
Learn moreTax Planning & Advisory
The plan that ties entity choice, timing, property and exit decisions together.
Learn more
Next steps
- Schedule a consultationWhat the first conversation covers, and what is worth having to hand.Go
- Industries we serveWhere the practice concentrates, and what that means for you.Go
- Documents to bringA checklist for the first conversation, so the second is about answers.Go
- Frequently asked questionsEngagement, service area, deadlines, documents and IRS notices.Go
Talk to a tax expert
Tell us what you are dealing with and we will tell you how we would handle it.