South Carolina Sales Tax Calculator

How South Carolina gets from 6% to 9%

South Carolina’s state sales tax is 6%, and counties can add local sales taxes of their own, usually 1% each, if voters approve them. The average combined rate is 7.49%, and the highest is 9%. Each local tax pays for a set purpose and is approved one at a time. A county’s rate therefore depends on how many of these taxes its voters have approved.

Retailers collect the local taxes along with the state tax and file them on the same return. The Department of Revenue (SCDOR) posts each change to a county’s rate ahead of time. Recent examples: Lexington County extended its School District Tax (rate stays 7%), Aiken County reimposed its Capital Projects Tax (stays 8%) and Williamsburg County added a Capital Projects Tax (new rate 8%).

• Local Option Sales Tax (up to 1%): pays for property tax relief.
• Capital Projects Tax (1%): pays for roads, bridges, public buildings and water and sewer projects.
• Transportation Tax (up to 1%): pays for roads and bridges.
• School District Tax and Education Capital Improvement Tax (1% each): pay for schools.
• Tourism Development Tax: only allowed in a few high-tourism municipalities, and pays for out-of-state tourism marketing.
• Catawba Tribal Sales Tax (7%): applies on the Catawba Indian Reservation in York County.

Finding the exact rate for a South Carolina address

Look up the county first, then check whether a municipal tax applies. SCDOR publishes three tools for this: Form ST-500, a state map showing the local taxes in each county; Form ST-575, a rate list by municipality; and an online district search map.

Worked example: an $800 refrigerator bought in Lexington County at 7% costs $56.00 in tax, for a total of $856.00. The same fridge in a county at the 9% maximum would cost $72.00 in tax.

Groceries: exempt from the state tax, but not always from local taxes

Unprepared food that can be bought with SNAP benefits is exempt from the 6% state sales tax under S.C. Code § 12-36-2120(75). But the statute says the exemption applies only to the state tax. Whether groceries carry local tax depends on which local taxes your county has.

SCDOR says unprepared food is exempt from the Capital Projects Tax and the Education Capital Improvement Tax, and from the Transportation Tax in Horry and Jasper counties. Other local taxes, such as the Local Option Sales Tax, can still apply. So a grocery bill in South Carolina may show 0%, 1% or 2% tax depending on the county. Prepared food, such as restaurant meals and hot deli items, is taxed at the full combined rate.

Prescription medicines and prosthetic devices are exempt under § 12-36-2120(28).

Shoppers aged 85 and over pay 1% less

Shoppers aged 85 or older get a 1% reduction in the state sales tax on items bought for their own personal use. That cuts the state portion from 6% to 5%. Local taxes still apply in full. The reduction is not automatic: under S.C. Code § 12-36-2620 you must ask for it at the time of sale and show proof of age. Retailers must post a sign at each entrance or register telling customers it is available.

On the $800 Lexington County refrigerator above, an 85-year-old buyer pays $48.00 instead of $56.00. SCDOR Revenue Ruling 18-10 explains how the reduction works.

Cars, boats and RVs: capped at $500

You do not pay ordinary sales tax on a car in South Carolina. Instead, you pay an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee (IMF) of 5% of the price, capped at $500, when you register the vehicle with the SC Department of Motor Vehicles (S.C. Code § 56-3-627). In a private sale the 5% is worked out on the fair market value. New residents registering a vehicle already titled in another state pay a flat $250 IMF; active-duty military members and their dependents are exempt from that charge.

On a $32,000 car, 5% would be $1,600, so the $500 cap applies. A buyer paying the full combined rate of 7.49% would have owed $2,396.80. Items that don’t have to be registered with the DMV, such as boats, aircraft, golf carts and ATVs, are covered by the separate “Max Tax”. Max Tax is also 5% capped at $500 per item, and local sales taxes don’t apply.

What the same $100 costs in tax in different South Carolina situations

Your tax on a South Carolina purchase depends on what you buy, where and who you are, more than the 6% headline rate. The examples below use Lexington County’s 7% rate unless stated otherwise.

The August tax-free weekend

South Carolina’s 2026 sales tax holiday ran from Friday, August 7 to Sunday, August 9. During the holiday, qualifying items are free of both state and local sales tax. There are no price caps: SCDOR says items qualify regardless of price, and whether they are bought new or used.

Qualifying items include clothing and shoes (including coats, rainwear, dance shoes, athletic uniforms and diapers), school supplies (including musical instruments, calculators and headphones), computers, printers and software, and bed and bath items such as sheets, pillows, bedspreads, towels and shower curtains. Computer parts and accessories qualify only when they are sold together with a computer.