The sales tax rate in Lancaster County, SC is 8%. That combined rate applies at the register whether you shop in the city of Lancaster, the town of Kershaw, or Indian Land, and it comes from South Carolina’s 6% state sales tax plus two separate 1% local taxes collected throughout the county.1South Carolina Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Index
What Makes Up the 8%
Three layers stack to produce the rate you see on a Lancaster County receipt.
The 6% state sales tax is imposed under South Carolina Code Section 12-36-910 on retail sales of tangible personal property statewide, and the South Carolina Department of Revenue collects it.2South Carolina Department of Revenue. Chapter 2 – Sales Tax Impositions
On top of that, Lancaster County voters approved a 1% Local Option Sales and Use Tax effective May 1, 1992. Revenue flows back to the county and its municipalities and funds credits against local property tax bills.3South Carolina Department of Revenue. Local Sales Taxes
The third layer is a 1% Capital Project Sales Tax (CPST), approved by voters in November 2020 and effective May 1, 2023. It funds specific infrastructure and road projects selected by a citizen committee.4Lancaster County South Carolina. Capital Project Sales Tax Retailers collect the full 8% from customers and remit it to the Department of Revenue, which routes the local portions back to Lancaster County.
What the 8% Applies To
South Carolina taxes retail sales of tangible personal property, defined by statute as anything you can see, weigh, measure, or touch.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 12-36-60 – Tangible Personal Property In day-to-day shopping, that means clothing, electronics, furniture, appliances, and most other physical goods. Certain services tied to the sale of a physical product are taxable too.
Online orders are treated the same way. Remote sellers that meet South Carolina’s economic nexus threshold are required to obtain a retail license and collect state and local sales tax on orders shipped to Lancaster County addresses.6South Carolina Department of Revenue. Remote Sellers If a seller doesn’t collect, the obligation shifts to you as use tax.
Vehicles and Other Big-Ticket Items
Motor vehicles registered or titled in South Carolina are not subject to the regular 8% sales tax at all. Instead, you pay an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee (IMF) of 5% of the purchase price, capped at $500, when you register the vehicle with the DMV. The dealer collects the IMF and remits it directly to the DMV.7South Carolina Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax Guide for Automobile and Truck Dealers On a $30,000 car, that works out to $500, not the $2,400 you’d calculate at 8%.
Several other high-value items fall under a parallel “Max Tax” structure: 5% of the sale price, capped at $500. The list includes:
- Boats and watercraft motors
- Aircraft
- Motorcycles
- Recreational vehicles, including travel trailers and motor homes
- ATVs, UTVs, golf carts, and dirt bikes
- Horse trailers
- Self-propelled light construction equipment up to 160 net engine horsepower
Items that require DMV registration and fall under the IMF are exempt from Max Tax; the two don’t stack.8South Carolina Department of Revenue. Maximum Tax (Max Tax)
Groceries and Prescriptions
Unprepared food that qualifies for purchase with USDA food stamps is exempt from the 6% state sales tax under South Carolina Code Section 12-36-2120(75).9South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 12 Chapter 36 – South Carolina Sales and Use Tax Act That covers raw groceries you take home to cook: fresh produce, meat, dairy, bread, and the like. Prepared meals, restaurant food, and hot deli items are fully taxable.
There’s a wrinkle local shoppers should know about. The state exemption doesn’t automatically wipe out the local taxes. Lancaster County’s two local 1% taxes still apply to unprepared food unless a specific local tax law says otherwise.10South Carolina Department of Revenue. Chapter 21 – Unprepared Food Exemption So a grocery receipt in Lancaster County will typically show a 2% charge on food rather than nothing.
Prescription medications are also exempt from the state sales tax, along with certain specialized treatments such as therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals used in cancer care. Over-the-counter medicines that don’t require a prescription stay fully taxable at 8%.
Use Tax on Out-of-State Purchases
When you buy from an out-of-state seller that doesn’t collect South Carolina tax, whether by catalog, through a home shopping network, or while traveling, you owe use tax at the same combined rate as sales tax. For Lancaster County residents, that’s 8%, and the taxable items are the same as what would be taxed at a local store.11South Carolina Department of Revenue. Use Tax You can report it on line 26 of your SC1040 income tax return, pay online through MyDORWAY, or mail form UT-3 to the Department of Revenue.12South Carolina Department of Revenue. 2025 Individual Income Tax Instructions If you already paid sales or use tax to another state on the same item, you can credit that amount against what South Carolina charges.
The August Tax-Free Weekend
Each year, South Carolina holds a 72-hour tax-free weekend starting at 12:01 a.m. on the first Friday in August and running through midnight Sunday. Qualifying items are exempt from both the state 6% and all local taxes, so Lancaster County shoppers save the full 8%.13South Carolina Department of Revenue. Tax Free Weekend
Qualifying purchases include clothing, footwear, school supplies (pens, pencils, binders, notebooks, backpacks, lunchboxes, calculators), and books used for school purposes such as book reports and reading assignments. Musical instruments for school use are covered. Computers qualify when sold as a package, but a monitor or keyboard bought on its own does not. Dorm items like mini-fridges and toiletries remain taxable, and anything bought for office or business use is excluded.