South Carolina Vehicle Property Tax: How It Is Calculated and When You Pay

How the tax is calculated

Vehicle tax uses the same three parts as every South Carolina property tax: value, assessment ratio and millage. Under S.C. Code 12-37-2640 the county auditor determines the assessed value and calculates the tax. Values come from guides SCDOR publishes and supplies to each auditor, adjusted for high mileage (12-37-2680), and SCDOR's guidance says a vehicle's value may not exceed 95% of the prior year's value. The millage is the rate applied to other property in your county, school district, special district and city for the preceding regular tax year.

SCDOR's own simplified example: a $20,000 personal vehicle times 6% is a $1,200 assessment; at a county millage of 0.289 the tax is $346.80. Your bill uses your district's actual millage. Older vehicles have a floor and a ceiling on value: for a model year 15 or more years before the tax year, the assessed value is $50, and for newer vehicles the assessed value cannot be less than $50.

When the tax is due

Under 12-37-2610, a vehicle's tax year runs with its registration: it begins with the last day of the month the registration is issued and ends on the last day of the month it expires. A registration cannot be issued until the tax for that year is paid. Where the DMV issues a two-year registration, 12-37-2620 still computes the tax for each twelve-month year, so you are billed annually. Charleston County's treasurer says the DMV's renewal fee appears on the tax bill every other year.

Charleston County's treasurer says vehicle taxes are due by the last day of the month your tag expires. Pay on time and the renewal sticker usually arrives by mail within about 10 days, if your address and any required insurance certification are current. Pay after the tag expires and you take the paid receipt to a DMV office for a sticker, with a DMV late renewal fee in a year your bill included the renewal fee. Unpaid tax can lead the treasurer to have the DMV suspend your license and registration after a 30-day warning letter (12-37-2740), with a $50 reinstatement fee.

Selling the vehicle or moving away

Because the tax is paid in advance, you can recover part of it. Under 12-37-2725, when you transfer title or become a legal resident of another state and register the vehicle there, you return the plate and registration to the DMV and make a written request for cancellation to the county auditor on the approved form. The treasurer then issues a credit or refund in proportion to the complete months remaining in that vehicle's tax year. Moving a plate to a replacement vehicle is different: under 12-37-2675 no new tax is levied on the replacement vehicle until that license expires.

Disagreeing with a vehicle tax bill

Vehicle values are set by the auditor, so objections go to the auditor under 12-60-2910: request a meeting in writing by the later of 30 days after the tax notice is mailed or the last day to pay on time, then file a written protest within 30 days of the conference, stating the value you believe is right. High mileage is a common ground, since the guides must reflect it. Under 12-60-2920 you then have 30 days after the auditor's response to request an Administrative Law Court hearing. Charleston County's treasurer warns that appeals for a year's tax cannot be accepted once the tag renewal date has passed.

Exemptions worth checking

• A totally and permanently disabled veteran may have up to two private passenger vehicles exempt under 12-37-220(B)(3), with the exemption continuing for a surviving spouse on one vehicle while unmarried. Exemptions under 12-37-220(B) are generally determined by SCDOR on application.
• Vehicles licensed and registered as antique motor vehicles are exempt under 12-37-220(B)(48).
• Charleston County lists a military exemption on personal property that must be renewed every year; ask the auditor whether your situation qualifies.

Business vehicles and your income tax return

A vehicle used in a business is assessed at 10.5% rather than 6%, and if the business owns it, the business is the taxpayer. Property tax paid on a business vehicle is generally a deductible business expense, and the record of what you paid, and which vehicle it was for, belongs with your bookkeeping. Haigler CPA Group prepares individual and business returns and can sort out which vehicles belong on which return and how the property tax should be recorded, and our page on business personal property tax covers equipment and other assets the county taxes.