South Carolina Car Sales Tax Calculator Tax, title & license fees (2026)

How much is car sales tax in South Carolina?

South Carolina doesn't charge sales tax on titled cars. Instead you pay an infrastructure maintenance fee (IMF) of 5%, capped at $500. On almost any car over $10,000, the IMF is simply $500.

For a dealer purchase, the IMF base is the price minus your trade-in plus the doc fee. For a private purchase, it's the price minus any trade-in. Multiply by 5% and stop at $500.

New residents bringing a vehicle already registered in another state pay a flat $250 IMF instead.

Title is $15 ($35 expedited), and the plate is $40. Most registration fees are paid every two years. Hybrids add a $60 road use fee and electric vehicles $120. County property tax must be paid before plates are issued.

South Carolina's fee is one of several alternatives to a regular sales tax on vehicles: Georgia charges a one-time title ad valorem tax, North Carolina a highway use tax and Oklahoma an excise tax. Compare them in our car sales tax by state overview.

1. Dealer: net = price - trade-in + doc fee; private: net = price - trade-in
2. IMF = min($500, net x 5%)
3. Total = IMF + title + plate + EV/hybrid fee + late penalty + county property tax + doc fee

South Carolina car tax example with real numbers

Dealer purchase that hits the cap

You buy a car for $25,000, trade in your old one for $5,000 and pay a $499 doc fee.

1. IMF base: $25,000 − $5,000 + $499 = $20,499.
2. 5% of that is $1,024.95, which is over the cap, so the IMF is $500.
3. Add the $15 title and $40 plate: $55.
4. Estimated total: $555, plus county property tax.

Computed with the calculator on this page using the figures in our data. Local add-ons not mentioned in the example are left out.

Exceptions that change your South Carolina tax bill