Property tax
South Carolina Business Personal Property Tax: The PT-100, the 10.5% Ratio and the 2027 Exemption
South Carolina taxes the furniture, fixtures and equipment a business uses. You report their cost and income tax depreciation on an annual return, the net value is assessed at 10.5%, and the county bills the tax at local millage, due January 15. Starting with property tax year 2027, Act 243 of 2026 exempts the first $10,000 of net depreciated value for qualifying small businesses and sends every business personal property return to SCDOR.
- The return is due on the last day of the fourth month after your accounting year ends: April 30 for a calendar-year business. No extensions; a 10% late-filing penalty applies.
- Value is cost minus income tax depreciation, and depreciation cannot exceed 90% of any item's cost. Bonus depreciation is never used.
- Business personal property is assessed at 10.5% of value; inventories are exempt.
- Most counties already route returns through SCDOR. Charleston County is still split between SCDOR and the county auditor; Berkeley moved fully to SCDOR for tax year 2026.
- From property tax year 2027, qualifying small businesses get a $10,000 exemption, and every business personal property return goes to SCDOR.
- Bills are sent after September 1 and paid to the county by January 15, not to SCDOR.
Who this applies to
- Any business that owns furniture, fixtures, machinery or equipment used in South Carolina, with or without real estate
- Owners of furnished rentals, including short-term rentals, for the furnishings
- Home-based businesses with equipment on their depreciation schedule
- Businesses that opened after their accounting year closed, which file an initial return as of December 31
Who this may not apply to
- Licensed vehicles, watercraft and aircraft, which are taxed separately and left off the business return
- Inventory held for sale (exempt under S.C. Code 12-37-220(B)(30))
- Manufacturers and utilities, whose property SCDOR assesses on separate returns rather than the PT-100
What is taxed
SCDOR describes business personal property tax as a tax on the depreciable assets of a business: typically the furniture, fixtures and equipment used to operate it. Its working rule is simple: any asset claimed on the business's South Carolina income tax return should also appear on the business personal property return. Equipment you lease or rent from someone else is left off your return, and licensed vehicles, boats, motors and aircraft are taxed separately and left off as well.
The exemption for household furniture does not extend to furniture used in hotels, rooming houses, apartments or other places of business, which is why the furnishings in a rental are reportable. Inventories are exempt.
Who you file with
Under S.C. Code 12-4-540, SCDOR alone assesses the property of manufacturers and utilities, corporate headquarters, office and distribution facilities, and the personal property of merchants. Over several years most counties have also moved their remaining business personal property returns to SCDOR, which accepts the PT-100 through MyDORWAY or on paper.
The state's fiscal impact statement for Act 243 reports that in tax year 2025, ten counties, Charleston among them, still had returns filed partly with SCDOR and partly with the county. SCDOR lists Berkeley as filing solely through SCDOR from tax year 2026, and Dorchester is on its list of SCDOR counties. Charleston County's auditor still publishes its own Business Personal Property Return and a separate return for furnished rental property, each due April 30, with a 10% penalty if postmarked late. If SCDOR has assigned you a business personal property file number, you file the PT-100; if the county auditor has sent you its form, you file that.
How the value is calculated
| Line | What goes on it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Total acquisition cost | All costs of acquiring furniture, fixtures and equipment used in the business, excluding licensed vehicles | $40,000 |
| 2. Adjusted depreciation | Depreciation used for income tax purposes, never more than 90% of each item's cost | $30,000 |
| 3. Net depreciated value | Line 1 minus line 2 | $10,000 |
| Assessed value | Net depreciated value times 10.5% | $1,050 |
| Tax | Assessed value times the combined millage of the taxing districts where the property sits | Varies by location |
Two details change the result. First, depreciation means the South Carolina income tax figure. SCDOR Revenue Ruling 05-2 says bonus depreciation is not claimed for property tax purposes, so an asset bonused to zero on the federal return is still on the property tax return at its South Carolina depreciated value. Second, the 90% cap means every item keeps at least 10% of its cost on the return for as long as you own it. Fully depreciated equipment still sitting in the back room is still taxed; equipment you sold or scrapped should come off.
Deadlines, penalties and bills
- The PT-100 is due by the last day of the fourth month after the close of the accounting period you use for income tax. A business that opens after its accounting period closes files an initial return as of December 31, due April 30.
- There are no extensions. A late return draws a 10% penalty, and if no return is filed SCDOR estimates the value from the prior year's return plus the penalty.
- Closing or moving a location: report zero values on lines 1 to 3 for that location with the close date, and say whether it closed, moved or was sold.
- Amended returns can be filed within three years of the original filing or due date, whichever is later.
- Counties send bills after September 1, payable to the county by January 15.
- For bills in the 2026-27 fiscal year, a budget proviso bars counties and municipalities from charging a delinquent penalty on a personal property tax bill that exceeds the underlying tax.
What changes in 2027
S.688, signed May 22, 2026 as Act 243 and called the State of South Carolina Small Business Tax Cut of 2026, makes three changes that first apply to property tax years beginning after 2026:
- An exemption for the first $10,000 of net depreciated value of business personal property owned by a small business (S.C. Code 12-37-220(B)(54)). A small business is a commercial retail service, industry entity or nonprofit, including affiliates, that is owned by taxpayers who pay South Carolina income tax, is independently owned and operated, and has fewer than 100 full-time employees or less than $10 million in gross annual sales.
- A taxpayer with less than $10,000 of net depreciated value is not required to pay business personal property tax if it certifies that to SCDOR annually, under penalty of perjury, in the manner SCDOR prescribes (S.C. Code 12-37-900(C)).
- All business personal property returns must be filed with SCDOR (S.C. Code 12-37-980). The tax is still levied by the jurisdiction where the property sits, so Charleston County filers who now file locally will move to SCDOR.
On the PT-100, the tax year is the year after the accounting period closes. Property tax year 2027 is therefore the return for an accounting year ending in 2026, which for a calendar-year business is the return due April 30, 2027. SCDOR told the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office it expects to administer the exemption by location rather than by return. As of October 25, 2026, SCDOR's business personal property page does not yet describe the certification process, so watch for its form before the 2027 filing season.
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Sources
- SCDOR — Business personal property (filing, county transitions, payment)
- SCDOR — PT-100 instructions (rev. 8/23/23)
- S.688, Act 243 of 2026 (business personal property exemption and filing)
- Revenue and Fiscal Affairs — S.688 fiscal impact statement
- SCDOR — Information Letter 26-23, Tax Legislative Update for 2026
- Charleston County Auditor — Business Personal Property Return
- SCDOR — Revenue Ruling 05-2 (no bonus depreciation for property tax)
- S.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 37 (Sections 12-37-220 and 12-37-900)
South Carolina publishes new guidance and local governments change their rates, so check the source pages for anything that has moved since the date above. The information on this site is general in nature and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice for your situation. Tax law changes and the right answer depends on facts we would need to review with you. Please speak with a qualified professional before acting on anything you read here.
Questions people ask about this
When is the business personal property return due if my fiscal year ends June 30?
The return is due on the last day of the fourth month after your accounting period closes, so a June 30 year end means an October 31 due date. There are no extensions.
Will my business qualify for the $10,000 exemption starting in 2027?
It may if it is independently owned and operated, owned by people who pay South Carolina income tax, and has fewer than 100 full-time employees or under $10 million in gross annual sales. The exemption covers the first $10,000 of net depreciated value and starts with property tax year 2027.
Who do I pay, SCDOR or the county?
The county. SCDOR or the county auditor assesses the property, but the county where it is located sends the bill after September 1, and payment is due to the county by January 15.
My equipment is fully depreciated. Why is it still being taxed?
South Carolina caps the depreciation you can report at 90% of each item's cost, so every item keeps at least 10% of its cost on the return while you own it. Remove items you have sold, scrapped or given away.
Keep reading
- Rental Property Tax in South CarolinaThe federal side of a rental is the same in Charleston as it is anywhere. What is different — and what costs Lowcountry owners the most money — is the layer underneath it: the assessment ratio, the accommodations taxes, and which jurisdiction you are actually in.
- Vehicle property taxSouth Carolina counties charge property tax on registered vehicles every registration year, and you pay it to the county treasurer before the DMV will issue or renew the registration. The tax is the vehicle's value from SCDOR's guides, times 6% for a personal car, pickup or motorcycle (10.5% for business or heavy vehicles), times the local millage. Renewals are due by the last day of the month the tag expires.
- SC bonus depreciation addbackSouth Carolina does not allow federal bonus depreciation under IRC Section 168(k). In the year an asset is placed in service, you add back the difference between your federal depreciation and the depreciation you would have claimed without bonus, then take extra South Carolina depreciation in the later years of the same recovery period. The asset carries a higher South Carolina basis until it is fully depreciated or sold.
- SC business license taxSouth Carolina has no statewide business license. Cities and counties that choose to levy one charge a business license tax, an excise on the privilege of doing business that is measured by gross income, not profit. Since Act 176 standardized the rules, every jurisdiction that levies it uses a May 1 to April 30 license year, an April 30 renewal date, a standard application and a common class schedule, but each sets its own rates.
- The 4% legal residence ratioSouth Carolina taxes the home you own, occupy and are domiciled in on 4% of its fair market value instead of the 6% used for second homes and rentals, and that home is also exempt from school operating millage. The lower ratio is not automatic: you apply to the county assessor, with proof of domicile, before the first penalty date for the first tax year you claim, which is usually January 15 after the tax year.
- Homestead exemption (65+, disabled)South Carolina exempts the first $50,000 of the fair market value of your permanent home and legal residence from county, municipal, school and special assessment property taxes if you are 65 or older, totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind, and have been a South Carolina resident for at least a year. You apply in writing to the county auditor, not the assessor and not on your income tax return, and the exemption then continues until something changes.
- Appealing a property assessmentIf your county assessor mails a notice raising your home's value or changing its classification, you have 90 days from the mailing to object to the assessor in writing. An unresolved objection moves to an assessor conference, a written protest within 30 days, the county board of assessment appeals within 30 days of the assessor's response, and then the Administrative Law Court. In a year with no notice you can object in writing at any time, and filing before the first penalty date makes it count for that year.
- South Carolina tax guideHow South Carolina taxes income, businesses and property, and what the Charleston area adds on top, with the state or local source beside every rule.
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