South Carolina Tax, Title and License Calculator
What the state actually charges on a car purchase in South Carolina, separated from what the dealer adds. Every government figure comes from SCDMV.
How much is tax, title and license (TTL) in South Carolina?
On a $25,000 car, tax, title and license in South Carolina is about $535: $35 in fees and $500 in tax. The fixed fees stay about the same at any price; the tax is what moves with what you pay.
Use the full South Carolina calculator to enter your own price, trade-in and vehicle details. The table below shows the total at common prices.
Tax, title and license in South Carolina by price
| Purchase price | Fees | Tax | TTL total | With 30% trade-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 car | $35 | $150 | $185 | $140 |
| $5,000 car | $35 | $250 | $285 | $210 |
| $6,000 car | $35 | $300 | $335 | $245 |
| $10,000 car | $35 | $500 | $535 | $385 |
| $20,000 car | $35 | $500 | $535 | $535 |
| $30,000 car | $35 | $500 | $535 | $535 |
| $40,000 car | $35 | $500 | $535 | $535 |
Used vehicle, first registration in South Carolina, at the state tax rate. Not included: county vehicle property tax.
Where the money goes
On a $25,000 car in South Carolina, tax is $500 of the $535 total and the fixed fees are $35. The tax scales with the price of the car. The fees do not, which is why tax, title and license is a much bigger number on an expensive car and barely noticeable on a cheap one.
Sales tax on a car in South Carolina
South Carolina does not call it a sales tax; it charges the South Carolina Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, which is the figure people mean by South Carolina car sales tax. The rate is 5%. source 2 It is the biggest part of the bill on an expensive car, and the calculator above works it into your total. How a trade-in changes it is covered in trade-ins below, and every state's rate is on the car sales tax by state page.
Does a trade-in reduce your tax in South Carolina?
Yes. South Carolina subtracts the trade-in allowance from the price before the tax is worked out. The bigger the trade-in, the smaller the tax bill.
Buy a $28,000 car and hand over a trade-in worth $8,000 and you are taxed on $20,000, not $28,000. That is $0 you do not pay.
One catch worth knowing. The credit usually only applies when the trade and the purchase happen as a single deal with the same dealer. Sell your old car privately first and you get the cash but you lose the tax break.
Buying from a dealer? Put the doc fee and any add-ons on top of these figures with the out-the-door price calculator, set to South Carolina.
The South Carolina documentation fee, and what else is not TTL
Everything the state charges is fixed. The dealer's own lines are not, and the documentation fee is the one worth reading closely in South Carolina.
There is no fixed statewide number, but a dealer has to file its maximum closing fee with the state before it can charge one. A dealer that wants to charge the fee tells the Department of Consumer Affairs in advance the most it will charge, pays a filing fee, then has to disclose and post that amount. The fee still has to be reasonable, so each dealer is held to the figure it filed even though the state sets no single cap. source 3
No state makes a dealer charge this, and South Carolina puts no ceiling on it, so of everything on the sheet it is the line with the most room to push back on.
For the full list of what belongs to the state and what belongs to the dealer, see what dealers add that is not tax, title and license, and how South Carolina's doc fee rule compares with the rest.
Motorcycles, leases and other cases
Three situations where the figure above does not apply:
- Motorcycles. SCDMV registers them on a different and much cheaper schedule. The tax works the same way, on the purchase price.
- Leases. A lease is not a purchase, and several states tax the monthly payment rather than the value of the car. If you are leasing, the number on this page is not your number.
- Gifts and family transfers. No sale means no sales tax in most states, though the title fee still applies. The South Carolina title transfer page has the rule and the form.
Questions about South Carolina TTL
How to calculate tax, title and license in South Carolina?
Work it in this order. Take the purchase price, subtract your trade-in, apply the 5% tax rate, then add the flat fees: $15 for the title and $20 for registration. The calculator on the South Carolina page does all of it and shows the source for each figure.
How much does it cost to get a tax, title and license in South Carolina?
On a $25,000 car, about $535: $35 in fees and $500 in tax. On a $5,000 car it is about $285. The fees stay the same. The tax is what moves. Not included: county vehicle property tax, which SCDMV does not publish in a form we can verify.
How much are taxes on a $20,000 vehicle in South Carolina?
$500 in tax on its own, before any fees. A trade-in reduces it, because South Carolina taxes the difference.
What does tax, title and license include in South Carolina?
Three things the state charges: the sales or use tax on the purchase, the fee to put the title in your name, and the registration and plate that make the car legal to drive. In South Carolina the title is $15 and registration is $20. The tax is the part that moves with the price of the car.
How much is tax, title and license on a $25,000 car in South Carolina?
About $535: $35 in fees and $500 in tax. Change the price in the calculator for your own figure. Not included: county vehicle property tax.
Is the documentation fee part of tax, title and license?
No. The doc fee goes to the dealer, not to SCDMV. It often sits next to the real government fees on the same sheet, which is exactly why it gets mistaken for one. Ask what each line is for.
Can I negotiate tax, title and license in South Carolina?
Not the tax, the title or the registration. Those are set by the state and the dealer collects them on its behalf. What you can negotiate is the price of the car, which lowers the tax as a side effect, and the dealer's own fees.
How much does a trade-in save on tax, title and license in South Carolina?
On a $30,000 car with a $10,000 trade-in, tax drops from $500 to $500. That is $0 saved, because South Carolina taxes the difference rather than the full price.
Work out the rest of the South Carolina bill
The generic explainers, on what tax, title and license means, how to check a dealer's quote, and whether to finance the tax, live on the tax, title and license hub. For South Carolina specifically, these are the pages worth having open:
How South Carolina compares at one price
The table above runs South Carolina at prices from $3,000 to $40,000. To see the same bill in every state side by side, there is tax, title and license on a $30,000 car, state by state.
Nearby states
Or compare all 51 on the tax, title and license by state page.
Where these numbers come from
- SCDMV, fees, retrieved 2026-10-16
- South Carolina Department of Revenue, information letter 17-10, infrastructure maintenance fee, retrieved 2026-09-17
- South Carolina Code 37-2-307, motor vehicle closing fees, retrieved 2026-09-18
- SCDMV, moving to SC: titling and registering a vehicle, retrieved 2026-10-16
- Lexington County Auditor, motor vehicle tax FAQs, retrieved 2026-10-16
- SCDMV, License Plates (Where the Revolutionary War Was Won plate from January 1, 2026; $6 exchange; 60-day temporary plates), retrieved 2026-10-28
- SCDMV, Personalized Plates ($30 plus registration, Form MV-96), retrieved 2026-10-28
- SCDMV, License Plate Replacement (online exchange and replacement), retrieved 2026-10-28
- South Carolina Code 56-3-627, infrastructure maintenance fee and exclusions, retrieved 2026-10-30
Not affiliated with South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles.