Who qualifies for the 4% legal residence in South Carolina?

You own the home and live in it as your permanent legal residence. One home only. The assessor can ask for proof. Your home is assessed at 4% of market value instead of 6%. Your home is also fully exempt from school operating taxes (not school debt taxes). Deadline: Set by your county assessor. Confirm the 2026 date with the assessor.

Who qualifies for the Dwelling of a paraplegic or hemiplegic person in South Carolina?

An owner who is paraplegic or hemiplegic, including someone whose Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or ALS causes the same trouble walking. A spouse may be on the title. An unremarried surviving spouse who inherited the house can continue. Your dwelling and up to one acre are exempt from property tax. Deadline: File with SCDOR. No single day count is printed.

Rules by state / South Carolina

South Carolina property tax, line by line.

Your county treasurer sends one property tax bill a year. It covers county, city, school and special-district taxes. The county assessor sets your value, and the auditor handles the homestead exemption. There is no state property tax bill.

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At a glance

Who sends the bill: The county treasurer. The county assessor sets your value. The county auditor administers the homestead exemption.
When it comes: Usually in the fall.
When it's due: Before January 16, or 30 days after the tax notice is mailed, whichever is later.
If you pay late: 3% if unpaid by the due date. Another 7% if unpaid before February 2. Another 5% if unpaid before March 17, and then the county can start a tax execution. The USPS postmark counts.
Value is set as of: December 31 of the prior year is used in the base-year and transfer rules.
Limits on increases: At a countywide reassessment, the market value increase is limited to 15% within a five-year period. The cap does not apply to new improvements in the year they are first taxed, or after a sale or other transfer of interest in the year that value is first taxed.

Bill dates source · Assessment source

What may come off

5 programs homeowners can claim

None of these are applied for you automatically. Each one is free to apply for. If you upload your bill, we check which ones are already on it and which may fit you.

4% legal residence

Who: You own the home and live in it as your permanent legal residence. One home only. The assessor can ask for proof.
What you get: Your home is assessed at 4% of market value instead of 6%. Your home is also fully exempt from school operating taxes (not school debt taxes).
How to apply: Apply with your county assessor. This is a different form from the age 65 homestead exemption. Ask the assessor for the 2026 cutoff.
Deadline: Set by your county assessor. Confirm the 2026 date with the assessor.
If you're late: If 4% is granted after you paid, that year's overpayment is refunded. There is no multi-year refund.
After that: One time, until ownership or occupancy changes.

Source

Homestead exemption (age 65, totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind)

Who: You own the home (fee simple, life estate or trust beneficiary) and it is your legal residence. You were a South Carolina resident for the full calendar year before the tax year, and you are 65 or older, or totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind. Either spouse can qualify a jointly owned home. You also need the 4% legal residence in place.
What you get: The first $50,000 of market value is fully exempt from county, city, school and special-district taxes. For tax year 2026 a one-year state budget proviso adds $25,000, for $75,000 total, but the county auditor decides if the extra amount applies to you. Fees like solid waste or road fees are not removed.
How to apply: Apply with your county auditor. Have your 4% legal residence in place.
Deadline: Older state guidance counted an application filed before the first penalty date for that tax year. Confirm the 2026 date with the auditor.
If you're late: An application filed before the first penalty date has reduced that year's bill in the past. Do not count on a refund for earlier years.
After that: One time while you stay eligible. If you move to a new South Carolina home, eligibility can carry over if you still qualify.

Source

Dwelling of a totally and permanently disabled service-connected veteran

Who: A veteran with a permanent and total service-connected disability who owns the home alone or with a spouse, and has the 4% legal residence. A VA rating letter alone is not enough. An unremarried surviving spouse can qualify.
What you get: Your house and lot (up to five acres) are exempt from property tax.
How to apply: File SCDOR Form PT-401I or use MyDORWAY. You need a VA or county veterans officer certificate with the effective date, your recorded deed, 4% proof, a marriage certificate if owned jointly, and a mobile-home title if it applies.
Deadline: No single day count is printed. File before the bill is finalized.
After that: Continues until your status or ownership changes. A surviving spouse must stay unmarried.

Source

Dwelling exemption for the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran

Who: The unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran who had a permanent and total service-connected disability, living in the home with the 4% legal residence.
What you get: Your house and lot (up to five acres) are exempt from property tax.
How to apply: File SCDOR Form PT-401I or use MyDORWAY with the supporting papers (VA or county veterans officer certificate, deed, 4% proof).
Deadline: No single day count is printed. File before the bill is finalized.
After that: Continues while you stay unmarried and keep the home.

Source

Dwelling of a paraplegic or hemiplegic person

Who: An owner who is paraplegic or hemiplegic, including someone whose Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis or ALS causes the same trouble walking. A spouse may be on the title. An unremarried surviving spouse who inherited the house can continue.
What you get: Your dwelling and up to one acre are exempt from property tax.
How to apply: File PT-401I or use MyDORWAY, with a physician statement on letterhead, your deed and 4% proof.
Deadline: File with SCDOR. No single day count is printed.
After that: Continues while the medical and occupancy conditions continue. A surviving spouse must stay unmarried.

Source

In some situations

If you moved, inherited, built or had a disaster

Disabled law enforcement officer or firefighter (line of duty in South Carolina)

Who: A former officer or firefighter (volunteers included) who is totally and permanently disabled from service in South Carolina, or the unremarried surviving spouse of one killed in the line of duty in South Carolina. The same 4% and ownership conditions apply as for the disabled veteran exemption.
What you get: Your dwelling home is exempt from property tax.
How to apply: File PT-401I or use MyDORWAY. You need certification from the commanding officer or fire chief and the Workers' Compensation Commission final order, plus your deed and 4% proof.
Deadline: File with SCDOR.
After that: Continues while you stay eligible. A surviving spouse must stay unmarried and live in the home.

Source

Medal of Honor or prisoner of war dwelling exemption

Who: SCDOR lists a dwelling exemption for a Medal of Honor recipient or a prisoner of war. Ask SCDOR for the full rules.
What you get: A dwelling exemption. Ask SCDOR for the exact scope.
How to apply: File PT-401I or use MyDORWAY.
Deadline: File with SCDOR.

Source

Think your value is too high?

Asking for a lower assessed value

Free review: File a written objection with your county assessor. The assessor conference is the first step, and it is free.
Formal appeal: Your county Board of Assessment Appeals, then the Administrative Law Court.
Deadline: 90 days from the date the assessment notice is mailed, in a year when a notice is sent. In a year with no notice, ask your assessor.
Good to know: Whether the board can raise your value was not confirmed, so ask before you file. An appeal may only affect the current tax year's bill if you file before the penalty date. Ask your treasurer whether to pay while it is reviewed.

A formal appeal reopens your whole value: the board can raise it as well as lower it. Bring recent sales of similar homes.

Source · We never charge for help asking for a lower value.

What can't come off

Charges you can't remove

School debt service taxes
Fees that are not property taxes, such as solid waste and road fees
Value above $50,000 (or $75,000 for tax year 2026 if the auditor allows the extra amount)
The jump to full market value in the year after a sale or other transfer of interest
The 6% ratio and school operating taxes if your 4% application is not approved

Solid waste fees, road user fees and similar charges stay on your bill, and the homestead exemption does not remove them. Special-district taxes are property taxes, so the homestead exemption lowers them, but the school operating exemption does not remove them. Homeowner association assessments are not a property tax exemption.

Late penalty? Penalties can be waived if the bill went to a prior owner after a mid-year transfer. Ask your county treasurer.

Watch out. The extra $25,000 homestead amount for 2026 is a one-year budget proviso for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027. It goes away unless the General Assembly renews it.

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Rules checked October 28, 2026 against official South Carolina sources. Rules change: check the deadline with your county before you rely on it. Not legal or tax advice.