What is the difference between the 4% and 6% assessment ratio in South Carolina?

Key facts

• 4% of market value for an owner-occupied legal residence plus up to 5 contiguous acres (SC Code 12-43-220(c)(1)).
• 6% for all other real property, including second homes, vacation homes and rentals (12-43-220(e); SC Department of Revenue).
• No school operating tax on a 4% home (Act 388 of 2006, SC Code 12-37-220(B)(47)). In district 510 that levy is 126.1 mills in tax year 2026.
• 72 days: a 4% home can't be rented more than 72 days in a calendar year (12-43-220(c)(2)).
• Apply once: Beaufort County takes 4% applications from January 1 of the tax year to January 15 of the following year. A new owner must file their own (Beaufort County Assessor).
• Penalty for a false claim: 100% of the tax saved plus 0.5% interest a month, minimum $30 (12-43-220(c)(2)(vii)).
• 2026 millage, district 510: 122.9 mills at 4%, 249.0 mills at 6% (Beaufort County Auditor millage card, tax year 2026).

Who qualifies for the 4% ratio?

You qualify if the home is your legal residence (your domicile) and you own it and live in it. The statute lets the 4% ratio cover the house and up to five contiguous acres. A residence that is your legal residence for any part of the year gets 4% for the whole year, along with the school operating exemption and any homestead exemption you qualify for (12-43-220(c)(2)(i)).

You can only claim one legal residence. The application is signed under penalty of perjury and includes a statement that neither you nor anyone in your household claims the 4% ratio on another home (12-43-220(c)(2)(ii)). If you live in Ohio and spend the winter on Hilton Head, the Hilton Head home is a second home and is taxed at 6%.

One exception helps people who are moving. You can hold 4% on two South Carolina homes for up to two tax years while you try to sell the first, as long as you put the first one up for sale within 30 days of buying the second (12-43-220(c)).

How much does 4% vs 6% change the tax on a $900,000 home?

About $9,000 a year in district 510, which covers most of the Town. Here is the arithmetic with the tax year 2026 millage card. The formula is market value times the ratio, which gives the assessed value, times mills divided by 1,000.

• Legal residence (4%): $900,000 x 4% = $36,000 assessed. $36,000 x 122.9 / 1,000 = $4,424.40.
• Second home or rental (6%): $900,000 x 6% = $54,000 assessed. $54,000 x 249.0 / 1,000 = $13,446.00.

The 6% bill is about three times the 4% bill, not one and a half times. Two things stack: the assessed value is 50% higher, and the 6% bill carries 126.1 mills of school operating tax that a 4% home doesn't pay.

These figures are before fees billed with the tax and before any credits. A second home that was just bought may also get a 25% exemption that lowers the 6% bill; see point-of-sale reassessment. Try your own price in the property tax calculator.

Can I rent my home and keep the 4% ratio?

Yes, but only for 72 days or fewer in a calendar year. SC Code 12-43-220(c)(2) allows 4% only if the residence "is not rented for more than seventy-two days in a calendar year." The Assessor can ask for parts of your federal and state returns each year, including Schedule E, to check rental income.

Many websites say the limit is 14 or 15 days. That's a different rule. Rentals of a home for fewer than 15 days a year are exempt from the state accommodations sales tax (SC Code 12-36-920; SC Revenue Ruling #15-4). The property tax limit is 72 days. Mixing the two up leads owners to turn down rental income they could legally take, or to think they're safe when they aren't.

Renting is also its own permit question on Hilton Head. Any rental under 30 days needs a Town short-term rental permit; see the short-term rental permit.

I'm buying a home that has vacation rentals already booked. Can I still get 4%?

Yes, if you take the home subject to existing rentals for no more than 90 days and then move in. SC Code 12-43-220(c)(6) says that if you occupy the home within 90 days of acquiring it, the 4% ratio applies back to the date you acquired it. Ask for the rental calendar before you sign, and make sure the contract says which bookings you're taking.

How do I apply for 4% in Beaufort County?

File the legal residence application with the Beaufort County Assessor after you close and move in. The steps:

1. Close on the home and make it your legal residence.
2. Gather documents for you and your spouse: South Carolina driver's license or ID, South Carolina vehicle registration at the address, and your most recently filed South Carolina income tax return (or an SSA-1099). Add the trust agreement if the home is in a trust. Military applicants add PCS orders, military ID and LES (Beaufort County Assessor, Exemptions and Discounts).
3. If you haven't filed a South Carolina return yet, the Assessor can approve you for one year, and you send the return the next year.
4. File between January 1 of the tax year and January 15 of the following year. For a home you buy and move into in 2026, the deadline is January 15, 2027.
5. Check your next bill. You don't reapply each year while the home still qualifies.

Miss the deadline and that year is billed at 6%. A late filing needs a petition showing "reasonable cause," which the Assessor decides (Beaufort County 2023 Reassessment Guide). You may be able to get a refund for past years the home qualified, within the time limits in SC Code 12-60-2560 and 12-54-85(F).

What happens if I lose eligibility?

Tell the Assessor within six months. If you move out, rent the home more than 72 days, or claim 4% somewhere else and don't report it, the penalty is 100% of the tax you saved plus 0.5% interest a month, with a minimum of $30 and a maximum of the current year's taxes (12-43-220(c)(2)(vii)). The Assessor's website has a form for reporting 4% fraud.

A 2026 change helps families after a death. Under Act 140 of 2026, if a 4% owner dies, the ratio continues until the estate closes, a deed of distribution is recorded, or December 31 of the year after the death, whichever comes first, as long as the home isn't rented more than 72 days or put to a different use (SCDOR Information Letter #26-23).

Questions

Sources

1. SC Code Title 12 Chapter 43 (12-43-220, assessment ratios), SC Legislature (checked October 2026)
2. SC Code Title 12 Chapter 37 (12-37-220, 12-37-250), SC Legislature (checked October 2026)
3. Millage information and tax year 2026 millage card, Beaufort County Auditor (checked October 2026)
4. Exemptions and discounts and Important dates, Beaufort County Assessor (checked October 2026)
5. Revenue Ruling #15-4, vacation rentals and the 72-day rule, SC Department of Revenue (checked October 2026)
6. Information Letter #26-23, 2026 tax legislation, SC Department of Revenue (checked October 2026)