South Carolina: Sales Tax Handbook
How to file your sales taxes in South Carolina
Once your business has a South Carolina sales tax license and begins to make sales, you are required to start collecting sales taxes on behalf of the South Carolina government and filing regular sales tax returns. This page will help you understand the basics of your tax collection and filing responsibilities.
How To Collect Sales Tax In South Carolina
South Carolina wants sellers who made a sale into South Carolina from outside the state to charge sales tax based on the destination of the buyer with the exception of online sellers.
If you are based outside of South Carolina but have sales nexus in South Carolina, then collect sales tax at the rate of your buyer's destination.
Sales Tax Collection Discounts In South Carolina
South Carolina allows merchants to keep a small percentage of the sales tax they collect as a collection discount, which serves as compensation for the work required to comply with the South Carolina sales tax regulations
The collection discount is 2% of tax due (3% if tax due is less than $100), with a maximum discount of $3,000 per year. Maximum discount is raised to $3,100 if filing electronically, and $10,000 for out-of-state taxpayers who are filing voluntarily
Your South Carolina Sales Tax Filing Requirements
To file sales tax in South Carolina, you must begin by reporting gross sales for the reporting period, and calculate the total amount of sales tax due from this period.
The state of South Caolina provides all taxpayers with two choices for filing their taxes. One option is to file online by using the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. This online system can also be utilized to remit the payment. The online system Autofile can be utilized to both file and pay your business's taxes online.
Tax payers should be aware of several late penalties. The penalty for late filing is 5% of the tax which is due for each month that it is late, with a maximum compounded percentage is 25%. The late payment penalty is 0.5% of tax due for each late month or fraction of a month, also with a compounded maximum percentage of 25%.
The state of South Carolina requires that every seller who owns a sales tax permit to file a sales tax return on the required day, even if it is a "zeroes-out" tax return, and there is nothing to report.
Your South Carolina Sales Tax Filing Frequency & Due Dates
Your business's sales tax return must be filed by the 20th of the month following reporting period. For a list of this year's actual due dates, see our calendar of South Carolina sales tax filing due dates.
Where To File Your South Carolina Sales Tax Return:
Filing Your South Carolina Sales Tax Returns Online
South Carolina supports electronic filing of sales tax returns, which is often much faster than filing via mail.
Taxpayers owing $15,000 or more per month may be mandated to file their returns electronically.South Carolina allows businesses to make sales tax payments electronically via the internet.
Taxpayers who must pay upwards of fifteen thousand per month in sales, use, accommodations, local option, and special local taxes are sometimes required to pay utilizing EFT.
You can process your required sales tax filings and payments online using the official South Carolina DOR eSales website, which can be found here 
. You should have received credentials to access your South Carolina DOR eSales account when you applied for your South Carolina sales tax license.
Filing Your South Carolina Sales Tax Returns Offline
While it is highly recommended that you file online using the South Carolina DOR eSales website, it is possible to file your required sales tax reportings offline using South Carolina Form ST-3, which you can download and print here . Once you have completed your required reportings, you can mail it to the state at this address:
Sales Tax Return
Columbia, SC 29214-0101
Please note that if you file your South Carolina sales taxes by mail, it may take significantly longer to process your returns and payments.
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