How does South Carolina’s tax code compare? South Carolina has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 0.00 percent to 6.40 percent. South Carolina has a 5.0 percent corporate income tax rate. South Carolina also has a 6.00 percent state sales tax rate and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 7.50 percent. South Carolina has a 0.46 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value.
South Carolina does not have an estate tax or inheritance tax. South Carolina has a 28.75 cents per gallon gas tax rate and a $0.57 cigarette excise tax rate. The State of South Carolina collects $4,375 in state and local tax collections per capita. South Carolina has $7,260 in state and local debt per capita and has a 60 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. South Carolina’s tax system ranks 33rd overall on the 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index.
Each state’s tax code is a multifaceted system with many moving parts, and South Carolina is no exception. The first step towards understanding South Carolina’s tax code is knowing the basics. How does South Carolina collect tax revenue? Click the tabs below to learn more! You can also explore our state tax maps, which are compiled from our annual publication, Facts & Figures 2024: How Does Your State Compare?
Subscribe to get insights from our trusted experts delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe
Get facts about taxes in your state and around the U.S.
The State Tax Competitiveness Index enables policymakers, taxpayers, and business leaders to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. While there are many ways to show how much state governments collect in taxes, the Index evaluates how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.
115 min read
Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
2 min read
Tax burdens rose across the country as pandemic-era economic changes caused taxable income, activities, and property values to rise faster than net national product. Tax burdens in 2020, 2021, and 2022 are all higher than in any other year since 1978.
24 min read
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for more than a third of state tax collections. How do income taxes compare in your state?
8 min read
Graduated corporate rates are inequitable—that is, the size of a corporation bears no necessary relation to the income levels of the owners.
7 min read
Retail sales taxes are an essential part of most states’ revenue toolkits, responsible for 32 percent of state tax collections and 13 percent of local tax collections (24 percent of combined collections).
9 min read
Krispy Kreme may have started the vaccine incentive ball rolling, but many states are putting big money into the effort with vaccine lotteries. Unlike a normal lottery, no one is paying for tickets—but the tax collector still gets paid when someone wins.
3 min read
State taxation of GILTI is unconventional and economically uncompetitive and will become even more so if the federal government adopts a more aggressive approach to taxing GILTI, as outlined in the American Jobs Plan Act.
29 min read
A landmark comparison of corporate tax costs in all 50 states, Location Matters provides a comprehensive calculation of real-world tax burdens, going beyond headline rates to demonstrate how tax codes impact businesses and offering policymakers a road map to improvement.
8 min read
With so many federal changes occurring in such a short amount of time—including some federal provisions changing more than once and a major change to the treatment of UC income occurring in the middle of tax filing season—state legislators have faced the challenge of responding to these changes quickly in order to provide certainty to taxpayers.
24 min read
New Yorkers faced the highest burden, with 14.1 percent of income in the state going to state and local taxes. Connecticut (12.8 percent) and Hawaii (12.7 percent) followed.
19 min read
Our updated 2021 edition of Facts & Figures serves as a one-stop state tax data resource that compares all 50 states on over 40 measures of tax rates, collections, burdens, and more.
1 min read
Here’s each state’s estimated revenue gains or losses in 2020, alongside the state and local aid that would be allocated to each under the American Rescue Plan Act.
8 min read
Congress chose to exempt forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from federal income taxation. Many states, however, remain on track to tax them by either treating forgiven loans as taxable income, denying the deduction for expenses paid for using forgiven loans, or both.
11 min read
Individual income taxes are a major source of state government revenue, accounting for 37 percent of state tax collections in fiscal year (FY) 2017. Several states had notable individual income tax changes in 2020: Arizona, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
22 min read
States compete with each other in a variety of ways, including in attracting (and retaining) residents. Sustained periods of inbound migration lead to (and reflect) greater economic output and growth. Prolonged periods of net outbound migration, however, can strain state coffers, contributing to revenue declines as economic activity and tax revenue follow individuals out of state.
4 min read