Sheet SC · 2026 rules
South Carolina Property Tax Calculator
Chapter 43 describes the 4% assessment ratio for qualifying legal residence, including the specified contiguous land limit and ownership or occupancy conditions. Other real-property classifications receive different treatment. Owning a residential building is not sufficient by itself to assume the approved legal-residence classification.
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Rules verified 9 primary sources Editorial policy
Estimate your 2026 South Carolina bill
- Tax — School operating levies —
- Tax — Other levies including school debt —
- Credits subtracted —
- Fixed charges added —
Different allowances for different levies need separately approved taxable bases in the prepared levy worksheet. The extra exemption above subtracts the same assessed-dollar amount from every modeled levy.
How South Carolina turns value into a tax bill
| Step | South Carolina rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Value | Use the valuation for the assessment year shown on your notice. Exemptions, rate units and levy classifications below must match that same notice. | [1] |
| Assessment | Choose the actual approved property class: approval required; Approved 4% legal residence: 4%; 6% other residential property: 6% | [1] |
| Annual limit | No automatic parcel bill cap is inferred from a limit on a jurisdiction’s total levy. | |
| Exemptions | Other relief is applied only from a recorded approval; the calculator does not decide qualification. | |
| Rate | School operating levies: local rate — you enter it.School operating levies from the applicable taxing authority. The rate is not a Census ratio. | |
| Rate | Other levies including school debt: local rate — you enter it.Other levies including school debt from the applicable taxing authority. The rate is not a Census ratio. |
How South Carolina assesses, caps, exempts and collects legal-residence tax
Property tax follows whoever owned the real estate on December 31 of the year before the tax year.2 Each county must reappraise all property once every fifth year1, and a county may postpone the new values by up to one tax year by ordinance.1 Under Act 388, a countywide reassessment can raise a parcel’s value by no more than 15% over the five-year period.2 The cap does not cover new additions or improvements in their first taxed year, or a parcel that went through an assessable transfer of interest, such as a sale.2
Your legal residence, plus up to five contiguous acres, is assessed at 4% of fair market value.1 All other real property is assessed at 6%1, including second homes and vacation homes.3 The 4% ratio must be applied for before the first penalty date of the first year you claim it1, which is January 16.3
A legal residence receiving the 4% ratio is exempt from school operating millage, but not from millage for repaying general obligation debt.2 The exemption also does not reach county or municipal taxes.3 A veteran who is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability can have the home fully exempted by filing a county service officer’s certificate with the Department of Revenue.2
Homeowners who are 65 or older, totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind are exempt on the first $50,000 of their home’s fair market value. That exemption applies to county, municipal, school and special assessment taxes.2 For tax year 2026 only, the FY 2026-27 state budget raised it from $50,000 to $75,000.56 It returns to $50,000 unless the General Assembly extends it.5 Your county auditor decides whether the extra amount applies to your account.4 Apply before July 16 of the tax year.2 You must have lived in South Carolina for a full calendar year as of the preceding December 31.7
The assessor mails an assessment notice when your value rises by $1,000 or more.8 You then have 90 days after mailing to object to the assessor in writing.8 If the assessor conference does not settle it, you have 30 days after the conference to file a written protest.8 Within 30 days of the assessor’s response, you can appeal to the county board of assessment appeals.8 In years with no notice, you can appeal at any time.8
Taxes are due between September 30 and January 15.9 A 3% penalty applies to taxes not paid before January 16, or before 30 days after the tax notices are mailed if that is later.9 Another 7% is added after February 19, and another 5% after March 16.9
Worked example
Approved legal residence $300,000×4%=$12,000 assessed. School operating levy is exempt; illustrative other 200 mills including any school debt=$2,400. For 6% other residential classification, school operating millage applies.
| Line | Taxable value | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| School operating levies at 0 mills | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Other levies including school debt at 200 mills | $12,000.00 | $2,400.00 |
| Annual total | $2,400.00 |
Left to your local bill
- Your county’s millage by tax district: county, municipal, school operating, school debt and special districts. The county auditor publishes it and calculates each bill. Lexington County, for example, posts millage charts by fiscal year.
- Homestead exemption amount: $50,000 of fair market value by statute, temporarily $75,000 for tax year 2026. The county auditor approves it and applies it to county, municipal, school and special assessment taxes.
- The 15% Act 388 reassessment cap and the resets after an assessable transfer of interest. Use the value “as limited by Article 25” on the county assessor’s notice, not raw fair market value.
- The 25% ATI exemption for 6% property (S.C. Code § 12-37-3135) after a sale or other assessable transfer. Notify the county assessor before January 31 of the first year you claim it.
- The total exemption for the home of a 100% permanently and totally service-connected disabled veteran (and qualifying surviving spouse) under § 12-37-220(B)(1). It is approved by the SC Department of Revenue, not the county.
- Late-payment penalties of 3% (January 16), 7% (February 2) and 5% (March 17), then tax execution costs. Also non-ad valorem fees on the bill, which exemptions do not cover.
Census context, not a rate
American Community Survey 2020–2024: median owner-occupied value $259,000 (±$1,421), median real-estate taxes $1,251 (±$7). Dividing one by the other gives 0.48% for South Carolina. Tables B25077 and B25103; why it is only context.
Sources
- scstatehouse.govS.C. Code § 12-43-220(c)(1), legal residence 4% ratio, read .
“The legal residence and not more than five acres contiguous thereto, when owned totally or in part in fee or by life estate and occupied by the owner of the interest … occupied by immediate family members of the owner of the interest, are taxed on an assessment equal to four percent of the fair market value of the property.”
- scstatehouse.govS.C. Code § 12-37-220(B)(47), school operating exemption for legal residences, read .
“receiving the special assessment ratio allowed owner-occupied residential property pursuant to Section 12-43-220(c) is exempt from all property taxes imposed for school operating purposes but not including millage imposed for the repayment of general obligation debt … Each person is liable to pay taxes and assessments on the real property that, as of December thirty-first of the year preceding the tax year, he owns in fee, for life, or as trustee”
- dor.sc.govSC Department of Revenue, SC Tax Incentives for Economic Development / Individual Property Tax manual, Ch. 5, read .
“A person’s second home or vacation home is taxed at an assessment ratio equal to 6%. … Generally, the residential classification is not available unless the owner of the property applies to the county assessor before the first penalty date for taxes due (January 16).”
- dor.sc.govSC Department of Revenue: Property Tax Exemptions, read .
“For Tax Year 2026, the State temporarily authorized an additional Homestead Exemption for certain qualifying recipients. Your county auditor administers the exemption and must determine whether the additional amount applies to your account.”
- lex-co.sc.govLexington County Auditor: Homestead Exemption Program, Tax Year 2026 update, read .
“For Tax Year 2026, the South Carolina General Assembly temporarily increased the Homestead Exemption from $50,000 to $75,000 through the Fiscal Year 2026–2027 state budget. … Unless extended or made permanent by the General Assembly, the statutory exemption remains $50,000 for future tax years.”
- governor.sc.govOffice of Gov. Henry McMaster: line-item vetoes for the FY 2026-2027 state budget, read .
“This budget also provides additional property tax relief to homeowners who are 65 years of age or older, who are totally and permanently disabled, or who are legally blind by increasing the Homestead Exemption from $50,000 to $75,000.”
- dor.sc.govSC Department of Revenue: Homestead Exemption flyer, read .
“As of December 31 preceding the tax year of the exemption, you have resided in South Carolina as your permanent home and legal residence for a full calendar year.”
- scstatehouse.govS.C. Code § 12-60-2510(A)(3), 90-day objection, read .
“the property taxpayer, within ninety days after the assessor mails the property tax assessment notice, must give the assessor written notice of objection to one or more of the following: the fair market value, the special use value, the assessment ratio, and the property tax assessment. … whenever the assessor increases the fair market value or special use value in making a property tax assessment by one thousand dollars or more”
- scstatehouse.govS.C. Code § 12-45-70(A), payment window, read .
“All taxes are due and payable between the thirtieth day of September and the fifteenth day of January after their assessment in each year. … the county auditor shall add a penalty of three percent on the county duplicate and the county treasurer shall collect the penalty. If the taxes, assessments, and penalty are not paid before the second day of the next February, an additional penalty of seven percent must be added”
Bordering jurisdictions
Elsewhere in the region:
Rules verified by the Property Tax Calculator Editorial Team. Report a correction