Homestead Exemption in SC: Who Qualifies, Savings, and How to Apply

The South Carolina homestead exemption removes the first $50,000 of your home’s fair market value from property taxes if you’re at least 65, totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind. It applies to county, municipal, school, and special assessment taxes on your legal residence, and once the county auditor approves your application, it stays in place for as long as you own and live in the home.¹

Who Qualifies

You qualify if you fit into one of three categories as of December 31 of the year before you apply.¹

Age 65 or older. You must have turned 65 by December 31 of the prior year, which effectively means you apply the year after your 65th birthday. Turn 65 in 2025, and 2026 is your first eligible year.
Totally and permanently disabled. A state or federal agency must have classified you as disabled. Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs determinations are the most common, but any government agency that classifies disability counts. If no agency has evaluated you, you can request an evaluation from the South Carolina Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Legally blind. A licensed ophthalmologist or the South Carolina Commission for the Blind must certify your blindness.²

If you’re married and own the home jointly, only one spouse needs to meet the age, disability, or blindness requirement. The other spouse does not have to independently qualify.¹

Ownership and Residency Conditions

Meeting one of the three categories isn’t enough on its own. Two more conditions apply.

You need to have been a legal resident of South Carolina for at least one full calendar year, established by December 31 of the year before you apply.² Someone who moves to the state in March 2025 isn’t eligible until the 2027 tax year.

You also need to hold the home in your own name through fee simple ownership or a life estate, and it must be your permanent home and legal residence.¹ Vacation homes and rental properties don’t qualify. If you own a beach house in addition to the home you live in, only the home you live in counts.

How Much You’ll Save

The exemption removes $50,000 from the fair market value of the home before your tax is calculated. South Carolina taxes legal residences at a 4% assessment ratio, so the exemption cuts your assessed value by $2,000.³ The dollar savings then depend on your combined local millage rate, which varies by county, municipality, and school district.

An example. Say your home is worth $250,000 and your total millage rate is 300 mills. Without the exemption, your assessed value is $10,000 and the tax bill is $3,000. With the exemption, the taxable fair market value drops to $200,000, the assessed value becomes $8,000, and the bill comes to $2,400. You save $600. Higher millage rates produce larger savings.

If your home’s fair market value is $50,000 or less, the exemption eliminates your property tax bill entirely.⁴

A qualifying property also receives the 4% assessment ratio automatically, even if it might otherwise be assessed at a higher rate.³ The county auditor makes that reclassification once your exemption is approved.

How and When to Apply

You file with the county auditor in the county where the home sits. The deadline is July 15 of the tax year you’re claiming. Miss it, and your exemption usually shifts to the following tax year. There is one narrow exception: if you file after July 15 but before the first penalty date on your property taxes, the county can still apply the exemption to your current-year bill.¹

Apply in person, by mail, or online where the county auditor supports it. Mailed applications need copies of the supporting documents. Once approved, you don’t reapply each year. You only need a new application if you move to a different home or the deed changes. Selling the property ends the exemption, and the new owner has to apply on their own if eligible.⁴

Documents You’ll Need

The application form is the SC Department of Revenue’s PT-401-I, available from your county auditor or from the DOR. It asks for your Social Security number, date of birth, and the property’s tax map number, which appears on your most recent tax notice or deed.⁵

Bring documentation that matches how you qualify:

Age-based applicants need a South Carolina driver’s license, state ID, birth certificate, or passport showing you were at least 65 by December 31 of the prior year.²
Disability-based applicants need a certification letter from the agency that classified them. Social Security recipients can download a benefit verification letter from their my Social Security account. Veterans need certification from the VA or a county veterans’ service officer.⁶
Blindness-based applicants need certification from a licensed ophthalmologist or the South Carolina Commission for the Blind.

Everyone also brings a recorded deed showing ownership. For a mobile or manufactured home, add the title, bond for title, or bill of sale, plus the deed for the land.⁵

Homes Held in a Trust

A home held in a trust can still qualify. If you are a beneficiary of the trust, use the home as your legal residence, and meet the age, disability, or blindness requirement, the property gets the same exemption as a home held in fee simple.⁷ Provide a copy of the trust agreement with your application. This matters most for homeowners who have moved the house into a revocable living trust for estate planning purposes.

Manufactured and Mobile Homes

Manufactured and mobile homes can qualify, and the DOR form has fields for the year, make, permit number, and a separate tax map number for the home itself.⁵ You’ll also need the title, bond for title, or bill of sale in addition to standard ownership documents.

What controls eligibility is how the home is classified for tax purposes. If it’s treated as real property and sits on the county’s tax rolls, it’s eligible like any other house. If it’s still titled as personal property, similar to a vehicle, the exemption may not apply. Check with your county auditor before you file.

Surviving Spouses

If your spouse was receiving the exemption when they died, you can continue it as the surviving spouse. The home must stay your primary residence, and legal title must pass to you. The exemption continues so long as you remain unmarried. Remarriage ends it, though you may re-qualify on your own if you meet the age, disability, or blindness criteria independently.

The DOR application has a section for deceased spouse information for this purpose.⁵ Contact your county auditor with the death certificate and documentation showing the property transferred to you.

If Your Application Is Denied

A denial can be appealed. Request a meeting with the county auditor in writing within thirty days after your tax notice is mailed, or by the last day your taxes can be paid without penalty, whichever is later.⁸ The auditor must schedule a conference within thirty days.

If the conference doesn’t resolve things, you’ll get a form to file a written protest. The auditor then has thirty days to respond in writing. If you’re still unsatisfied, you can request a contested case hearing at the Administrative Law Court within thirty days of that written response.⁸ Skipping the informal steps and going straight to the Administrative Law Court will get your case dismissed and sent back to the auditor, so work through the process in order.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-37-250 – Homestead Exemption for Taxpayers Sixty-Five and Over or Those Totally and Permanently Disabled or Legally Blind
2
South Carolina Department of Revenue. Homestead Exemption Flyer
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-37-252 – Classification and Taxation of Property Qualifying for Homestead Exemption
4
South Carolina Department of Revenue. Exempt Property
5
South Carolina Department of Revenue. Property Tax Exemption Application for Individuals
6
Social Security Administration. Get Benefit Verification Letter
7
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-37-266 – Homestead Exemption for Dwelling Held in Trust
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 12 Chapter 60 – Revenue Procedures Act