Excise tax on casual sales of motor vehicles, motorcycles, boats, motors, and airplanes; exclusions; payment of tax as prerequisite to titling, licensing, or registration.
S.C. Code Ann. § 12-36-1710
in effect(A) In addition to all other fees prescribed by law there is imposed an excise tax for the issuance of every certificate of title, or other proof of ownership, for every boat, motor, or airplane, required to be registered, titled, or licensed. The tax is five percent of the fair market value of the airplane, boat, and motor. (B) Excluded from the tax are: (1) boats, motors, or airplanes: (a) transferred to members of the immediate family; (b) transferred to a legal heir, legatee, or distributee; (c) transferred from an individual to a partnership upon formation of a partnership, or from a stockholder to a corporation upon formation of a corporation; (d) transferred to a licensed motor vehicle or motorcycle dealer for the purpose of resale; (e) transferred to a financial institution for the purpose of resale; (f) transferred as a result of repossession to any other secured party, for the purpose of resale; (2) the fair market value of a boat, motor, or airplane, transferred to the seller or secured party in partial payment; (3) gross proceeds of transfers of airplanes specifically exempted by Section 12-36-2120 from the sales or use tax; (4) boats, motors, or airplanes, where a sales or use tax has been paid on the transaction necessitating the transfer. (C) "Fair market value" means the total purchase price less any trade-in, or the valuation shown in a national publication of used values adopted by the department, less any trade-in. (D) "Total purchase price" means the price of a boat, motor, or airplane agreed upon by the buyer and seller with an allowance for a trade-in, if applicable. (E) "Immediate family" means spouse, parents, children, sisters, brothers, grandparents, and grandchildren. (F) The department shall require every applicant for a certificate of title to supply information it considers necessary as to the time of purchase, the purchase price, and other information relative to the determination of fair market value. If the excise tax is based upon total purchase price as defined in this section, the department shall require a submission of a bill of sale and the signature of the owner subject to the perjury statutes of this State. (G) The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Division of Aeronautics of the Department of Commerce may not issue a license or transfer of title without first procuring from the Department of Revenue information showing that the excise tax has been collected. The Department of Natural Resources may not license any boat or register any motor without first procuring from the Department of Revenue information showing that the excise tax has been collected. Effect of Amendment 2017 Act No. 40, SECTION 7.C, in (A), (B), and (D), deleted "motor vehicle, motorcycle," in seven places.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t12c036.phpFetched: 10/17/2026