South Carolina title transfer cost and calculator

How much does it cost to transfer a title in South Carolina?

South Carolina charges $15 for the title. That is the figure most people mean by a title transfer. If you are plating the car at the same time, the title, registration and plate fees add up to about $35 on a used $20,000 car, not counting tax and before the county vehicle property tax, which depends on where you live.

The tax is the number that matters. A $20,000 purchase in South Carolina carries roughly $500 in South Carolina Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, several times the title fee.

Work out your own figure on the South Carolina registration fee calculator, which itemizes every line and links to the source for each one.

How to transfer a car title in South Carolina

1. Get the paperwork right. The Title Application (SCDMV Form 400), the signed title or out-of-state title and registration, acceptable ID and insurance details. Owners without an SC license use the Statement of Vehicle Operation (Form TI-006C). source 4
2. Where you go. An SCDMV branch. South Carolina issues the title and the registration together, and for a car coming from another state it wants the paid county property tax receipt first. source 4
3. Pay. The title fee of $15, plus the tax on the purchase unless the transfer is exempt.
4. Do it in time. File within 45 days of the sale; what being late costs is under the deadline section below.

Do both of you need to be there, and can you do it online?

SCDMV does not say whether both of you have to be there. As a rule the seller has to sign the title over and the buyer signs the application, and where a state wants both signatures notarized a notary can stand in for one party being present. Confirm it with the SCDMV before you both take time off.

Can you transfer a title online in South Carolina?

No. A first registration in your name is a branch transaction. Renewals are online. source 1

Transferring a title to a family member, or as a gift

South Carolina does not charge its 5% infrastructure maintenance fee, capped at $500, on a car passed to immediate family: a spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent or grandchild. A car that goes to an heir is left out of the fee as well. Claim the exemption in the fee section of Form 400. source 9

Do not write $1 on the form to dodge the tax. South Carolina taxes what you actually paid, which is exactly why an understated price is treated as fraud rather than a smart move. If it truly is a gift, claim it as one on the proper form at the time of the transfer.

How long you have, and what late costs

The late penalty starts at 46 days, so treat 45 days as the deadline. source 1

What being late costs in South Carolina: the late registration penalty on a first registration starts at $10.00 once you are 46 to 60 days past the purchase and climbs to $75.00 beyond 135 days.

The countdown runs from when the title was signed, not from your first free afternoon, so do not sit on it. A transfer you never finish leaves the car in the seller's name, and tickets, tolls and abandoned-vehicle notices all follow the registered owner, so the 45-day window is worth keeping to.

When something is missing

A lot of these searches start with "what if I do not have". The honest general answer, worth confirming with SCDMV for your own case:

• No title. The seller applies for a duplicate before selling. A car sold without its title is not a car you can register, and a seller who cannot produce one is a seller to walk away from.
• There is still a loan on it. The lender holds the title or the lien is recorded against it, and it only moves cleanly once the loan is cleared. Never hand over money for a financed car before you have seen the lien released in writing.
• No bill of sale. Some states require one and some do not, but write one anyway. It is the only record of what you paid, and in South Carolina what you paid is what any tax is worked out on.
• The owner has died. This goes through the estate rather than a normal transfer, and what is needed depends on whether there is a will and whether the estate goes to probate. It is the one case here where it is worth ringing SCDMV before you turn up.
• The other person cannot come. Where South Carolina wants both people, a notarized power of attorney is usually the way round it.

Questions about South Carolina title transfers

Once the title is in your name

The title is half of it. The plate and the registration are the other half, and the tax lands with them. The South Carolina registration fee calculator works out the whole bill line by line, including what a dealer means when they quote a single tax, title and license number.

Nearby states

Or see car title transfer by state for all 51.

Where these numbers come from