South Carolina’s registration process has a step most states don’t: before SCDMV will issue your plate, your county has to bill and collect a year of vehicle property tax. It’s easy to show up at the DMV counter first and get turned away, so this guide walks through the order the process actually runs in.
Who actually handles registration in South Carolina
The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) is the agency that ultimately issues your title, plate, and registration decal — but it can’t do that until your county Auditor’s office has generated a vehicle property tax bill and your county Treasurer’s office has collected payment on it. It’s a three-office relay: auditor bills, treasurer collects, SCDMV registers, and you’ll need paperwork from the first two stops before the third one will help you.
RefPages’ State Government directory has SCDMV’s own contact information, and the County Records directory links to each county’s Auditor and Treasurer offices.
The deadline: 45 days
New residents have 45 days to apply for South Carolina registration after establishing residency. South Carolina also imposes escalating consequences for not paying the underlying property tax on time — a driver’s license or tag can be suspended if the tax bill goes unpaid past 120 days from the purchase or move-in date — so the tax step isn’t one to put off even if the DMV visit itself feels like the finish line.
What to bring
For a standard passenger vehicle with no lien, plan on visiting your county auditor first, then treasurer, then SCDMV:
- The vehicle’s title or out-of-state registration, plus the VIN, to get a property tax bill started at the county Auditor’s office
- Payment for the resulting property tax bill, made at the county Treasurer’s office — keep the paid receipt, since SCDMV requires it
- Proof of South Carolina auto insurance
- Proof of identity for every owner listed
- A completed registration application, submitted to SCDMV along with your paid tax receipt
The property tax step most states don’t have
South Carolina taxes vehicles as personal property, billed and collected annually in advance through the county — separate from, and in addition to, whatever you pay SCDMV for the registration decal itself. Even though registration itself runs on a two-year cycle (see below), the property tax portion is still billed and due annually, so don’t assume a two-year registration means a two-year gap before your next tax bill.
What it costs
- Vehicle property tax, billed by your county Auditor and collected by your county Treasurer, based on the vehicle’s assessed value and your local millage rate — this is the piece that varies most by address, since millage rates are set locally.
- Infrastructure Maintenance Fee (IMF), paid to SCDMV in place of a standard state sales tax: 5% of the purchase price, capped at $500, for a purchased vehicle. A new resident retitling a vehicle they already own (not a purchase) instead pays a flat $250 IMF. Confirm the current figures with SCDMV before you go, since both are set by statute and can change with legislation.
- A biennial base registration fee (roughly $40 for two years as of this writing, with a modest senior discount), paid to SCDMV alongside the IMF.
Renewal
South Carolina registration runs on a two-year (biennial) cycle, staggered by the expiration month printed on your decal rather than a single statewide date. Even so, expect a property tax bill from your county every year the decal is valid — renewal of the SCDMV decal and payment of the annual property tax are two different obligations that happen to overlap in your decal’s expiration month.