South Carolina’s sales tax rates range from 6% to 9%, including a state rate of 6% and local rates ranging from 0% to 3%.
South Carolina has a state sales tax rate of 6%. Counties and municipalities have local sales tax rates ranging from 0% to 3%, bringing the combined rate to 6% to 9%.
General retail goods, prepared food, and most SaaS and streaming services are taxable. Downloaded digital products generally aren't. Most groceries are exempt from South Carolina state sales tax, although they may be subject to local sales tax.
Businesses without a physical presence in South Carolina must start collecting and remitting sales tax when they exceed $100,000 in gross revenue from tangible personal property, digital products, or taxable services during the current or previous calendar year.
Once you reach nexus in South Carolina, you’ll need to register for a Retail License through the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Most businesses are required to file and pay monthly. You can pay online through MyDORWAY, pay with ACH credit, or pay with a paper check.
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South Carolina sales tax rates range from 6% to 9%. This is based on a statewide base rate of 6% plus local sales tax rates of 0% to 3%.
Many cities and counties in South Carolina charge local tax rates on top of the base state sales tax. South Carolina has several types of voter-approved local taxes, including local option, capital projects, transportation, school district, and tourism development taxes.
Each county or city can have a different combination, so they don't follow a simple county-plus-city structure.
Not all municipalities in South Carolina charge local sales taxes, and the exact local tax rates can vary by jurisdiction, zip code, and exact address. Check the chart of sales tax rates by municipality before applying tax to a sale.
Here are local tax rates in notable cities and counties across South Carolina:
To calculate the South Carolina sales tax rate, add the base state rate of 6% to the local rate in the applicable municipality. Multiply the total by the purchase price to calculate the sales tax due.
For example, if your sale happens in Charleston County, your combined sales tax rate is 9%. This consists of the 6% state rate and 3% in local taxes. If the purchase price of your item is $50, the sales tax is $4.50 ($50 x 0.09).
South Carolina uses destination-based sourcing to calculate sales tax rates.
Destination-based sourcing means that sales tax rates are calculated based on the buyer’s location, not the seller’s location. It’s most applicable when a buyer makes an online purchase from a seller in a different city or county within South Carolina.
Say your business is located in Charleston County, but your customer is located in Lexington County. The customer pays Lexington County’s combined sales tax rate of 7%, even though Charleston County’s combined sales tax rate is 9%.
No. South Carolina isn't a member of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. You can't register for a Retail License through the Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System. You must apply and file using the South Carolina Department of Revenue’s MyDORWAY system.
Nexus means you have enough connections with a state that the state can require you to collect sales tax on its behalf.
Before 2018, states could only require sellers with a physical presence in the state to collect sales tax. In South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that rule, and states with a sales tax began setting nexus thresholds.
There are four types of sales tax nexus:
Sales tax nexus works differently in every state. Here are the South Carolina nexus thresholds:
If you sell products or services in South Carolina, you need to know when you cross the nexus thresholds, so you’re ready to collect and remit on time. You have until the first day of the second month after you cross the economic nexus threshold to register and start collecting sales tax.
Numeral’s free nexus tracking alerts you as you approach the nexus threshold, so you never miss a filing deadline.
Most tangible personal property is subject to sales tax in South Carolina. Taxability for other items, like groceries and digital products, varies by item and local sales tax rules.
State sales tax in South Carolina generally applies to:
South Carolina has a few exemptions to state sales tax, including:
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Sales tax for SaaS and digital goods is treated differently in South Carolina than it is in many other states.
Most SaaS is taxable in South Carolina because it is treated as communications services. This includes both B2B cloud-based software and B2C platforms like streaming services.
Physical software discs are also taxable because they are considered tangible personal property.
Software delivered only electronically, and many other digital goods, such as downloadable e-books, music, movies, and games, are not taxable. That’s because they are not considered to be tangible personal property or a taxable service.
South Carolina offers resale certificates, which allow retailers to purchase tangible personal property tax-free as inventory to resell or lease to customers.
To buy inventory tax-free for resale, you must give the seller a completed Form ST-8A, Resale Certificate. You'll need a valid South Carolina Retail License number (or a retail license number from another state).
South Carolina accepts out-of-state resale certifications and Multistate Tax Commission resale certificates for tax exemptions. Since South Carolina is not a Streamlined Sales Tax state, the state government generally doesn’t accept SST resale certificates.
Retailers should submit their completed ST-8A form directly to the vendor they’re purchasing from, not to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. These resale certificates do not expire, but retailers must keep their South Carolina Retail License active.
Sellers must keep a copy of each certificate to support the exemption in an audit. SCDOR requires you to keep records for at least four years after the return was filed or due.
To collect sales taxes in South Carolina, you’ll first need to obtain a Retail License and set up a business tax account through the state’s Department of Revenue. You can do this through MyDORWAY, which is the state’s online tax payment portal.
To do this, you’ll need to provide the following information:
A South Carolina Retail License requires a one-time $50 fee and is usually processed within five days after submitting an online application.
When your license is approved and your business tax account is set up, you will be assigned a filing frequency based on your business’s earnings and tax liability. Most businesses in South Carolina file monthly, but some file quarterly or annually.
Both state and local sales tax are processed through MyDORWAY.
Once approved, South Carolina Retail Licenses don't expire. However, each license covers one location, so you'll need a new license if your business moves or changes ownership, and a separate license for each location.
Depending on where your business operates in South Carolina, you may also need to obtain a local business license from your county or city government.
Numeral automatically registers your business with tax authorities as soon as you cross new nexus thresholds. You can use the autoregister feature to fully automate the process or use our simple dashboard to register yourself in just a few clicks.
Remote sellers in South Carolina must start collecting and remitting sales tax once they’ve reached the state’s economic nexus, which is $100,000 in gross in-state revenue during the current or previous calendar year.
Once you exceed the threshold, you must get a Retail License and start collecting and remitting tax by the first day of the second calendar month after you established nexus. For example, if you cross the threshold in March, you must start by May 1.
The registration process for remote sellers is similar to the process for in-state sellers. You’ll need to obtain a Retail License and set up a business tax account through MyDORWAY. During the registration process, be sure to specify that you are a remote seller.
Once you’ve obtained the proper licenses and set up your business tax account, it’s time to start collecting sales taxes from your customers in South Carolina.
Here’s how to collect South Carolina state sales tax, step-by-step:
In South Carolina, marketplace platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy collect and remit sales taxes on behalf of their sellers. If you only sell on a marketplace platform, you won’t need to obtain a South Carolina Retail License or set up a South Carolina sales tax account.
However, if you also sell directly through your own website or another channel, you may need to collect sales tax on those sales yourself. Your marketplace sales count toward South Carolina's $100,000 threshold even though the marketplace collects the tax on them.
If your total sales into the state go over $100,000, you'll need a Retail License and must collect and remit tax on your direct sales, even if those direct sales alone are well under the threshold.
Whether or not to charge sales tax on shipping is handled differently by each state.
In South Carolina, taxability for shipping and delivery charges varies based on how the item is delivered. In most cases, shipping and delivery fees are taxable as long as the product being shipped is also taxable.
Notably, these fees are taxable if you’re shipping the product with your own vehicles, or with a common carrier and the sale is made Free on Board (FOB) at the point of destination. This means the buyer does not assume ownership of the item until it arrives at their location.
However, these fees are not taxable if you are shipping an item with a common carrier and the sale is made FOB at the point of origin. This means the buyer takes ownership of the goods as soon as the carrier loads them.
In South Carolina, the sales tax due date is the 20th of the month following the reporting period. If the 20th is on a weekend or state holiday, taxes are due on the next business day. Local sales taxes are included in your South Carolina return and not filed separately.
The easiest way to file South Carolina sales tax is online through MyDORWAY. However, you can also file and pay electronically with some third-party tax software programs. If your tax liability is less than $15,000 per filing period, you also have the option to use a paper form.
According to South Carolina’s ST-3 Instructions, most businesses must file state sales tax monthly. However, some businesses may qualify for less frequent filing schedules based on their sales tax liability.
Sales tax returns are considered late if they are not transmitted or postmarked by the 20th of the month.
If you do not have any sales tax due in South Carolina, you still need to file a return once you’ve reached nexus. When filing online, select the zero-sales option.
If you file and pay on time, you can take a discount of 3% of the tax due if it's under $100, or 2% if it's $100 or more. The discount is capped at $3,000 per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), or $3,100 if you file and pay electronically.
Filing South Carolina sales tax online is straightforward. You can register, file, and pay through the MyDORWAY portal.
After creating an account, you’ll file using a simple online form. You can pay by credit card, ACH debit, or electronic funds withdrawal.
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South Carolina imposes penalties for late filing and late payments. The penalty for failing to file is 5% of the amount due for each month the filing is late. The penalty for failing to pay is 0.5% of the amount due for each month the payment is late.
Both penalties are capped at 25% of the amount due.
These penalties also come with interest. Interest follows the federal underpayment rate in the Internal Revenue Code, changes quarterly, and compounds daily. As of the fourth quarter of 2026, the rate is 7% a year.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) may audit your sales tax filings and payments for accuracy. During an audit, the SCDOR will look at reported sales, tax rates, tax collected and paid, and any exemptions to make sure everything was reported correctly.
Here are the documents you should keep on hand, so you’re prepared in the event of an audit:
South Carolina requires businesses to keep these records for at least four years after the return was filed or due, whichever is later. Many businesses err on the side of caution and keep records for seven years or more.
If you want to appeal an audit, you can do so by filing a written protest within 90 days of the assessment notice. The fastest way to do this is by completing form C-245 through MyDORWAY, although you can also submit a paper form.
Numeral simplifies state sales tax compliance so you can focus on running your business.
Numeral’s nexus monitoring connects to your billing platforms to track South Carolina sales. As you approach the nexus threshold, you’ll get a real-time notification so you can prepare to file.
Then, Numeral’s autoregistration handles licensing and tax account setup for you. Numeral also helps you calculate accurate sales tax rates and manage exemption certificates.
Numeral applies the right combination of local option, capital projects, transportation, and other local taxes for each South Carolina address, so you don't have to track them yourself.
When it’s time to file, Numeral automates filing and remittance so you never miss a deadline. All tax returns are reviewed by Numeral experts before submission. Every filing is protected by the Numeral Guarantee: your sales tax will be filed on time or we’ll pay your penalties and interest charges.
Get started or book a demo with Numeral to put South Carolina compliance on autopilot.
What is the sales tax rate in South Carolina?
The state sales tax rate in South Carolina is 6%. Local tax rates in South Carolina range from 0% to 3%, bringing the combined tax rate to 6% to 9%.
What is the economic nexus threshold in South Carolina?
The economic nexus threshold in South Carolina is $100,000 in gross revenue during the current or previous calendar year.
Is SaaS taxable in South Carolina?
In most cases, yes. In South Carolina, SaaS and other cloud-based platforms are treated as taxable communications services.
Do marketplace sellers need to collect sales tax in South Carolina?
Generally, no. In South Carolina, marketplace facilitators are responsible for collecting and remitting taxes on behalf of their sellers. In fact, if you only sell on a marketplace platform, you won’t need to obtain a South Carolina Retail License or set up a sales tax account.
How often do businesses need to file state sales tax returns in South Carolina?
Most businesses need to file state tax returns and make payments monthly.
For sales tax questions and appeals in South Carolina, contact:
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