State Guide

How to Appeal Your Property Taxes in South Carolina (2026 Guide)

Published July 15, 2026

If you own a home in South Carolina, your county assessor sets a fair market value for your property, and that number — run through the state's assessment ratio and your local millage — drives your tax bill. Every year you have a statutory window to challenge that value, and in South Carolina that window is keyed to the date on your assessment notice.

The South Carolina deadline: 90 days from your assessment notice

South Carolina doesn't use one statewide calendar date. Instead, in any year the assessor mails you a property tax assessment notice, you have 90 days from the date of that notice to file a written objection with the assessor — set by S.C. Code §12-60-2510. In a year when no notice is mailed (your value didn't change), you can still file a written appeal with the assessor at any time — but note the timing rule in the same statute: an appeal you file on or after the first penalty date (mid-January) applies to the following tax year, not the current one, so file before then if you want relief on this year's bill. Because the notice-year clock runs from your notice, the single most important thing you can do is read the mailing date off the notice and count 90 days forward.

That written objection is the first rung. If the assessor's response doesn't satisfy you, you appeal to your County Board of Assessment Appeals (§12-60-2530), and from there to the Administrative Law Court by contested-case hearing (§12-60-2540).

How South Carolina assesses your home

South Carolina taxes a fraction of your home's value, and the fraction depends on how you use the property. Your owner-occupied legal residence is taxed on an assessment equal to 4% of fair market value (§12-43-220(c)) — one of the lowest ratios in the country. That 4% rate isn't automatic, though: you have to file the legal-residence (owner-occupant) application with your county assessor to claim it, and until you do, the home is assessed at the higher rate. Other real property, such as a second home or a rental — and any home whose owner hasn't claimed the legal-residence classification — is taxed on 6% (§12-43-220(e)). Either way, an appeal contests the fair market value, and a lower market value drops your 4% or 6% assessment proportionally.

Category	South Carolina
Assessment basis	4% of market value (owner-occupied legal residence); 6% (other) — §12-43-220
Appeal deadline	90 days from your assessment notice (§12-60-2510)
Where you file	County Assessor, then County Board of Assessment Appeals
Assessment cap	Reappraisal increase limited to 15% over any 5-year cycle (§12-37-3140)
Can the board raise your value?	Yes, on your own appeal (§12-60-2530)

The 15% cap — and the point-of-sale reset

South Carolina reappraises property county-by-county on a five-year cycle, and any increase in fair market value from that reappraisal is capped at 15% within the five-year period (§12-37-3140). So your taxable value may already sit below what your home would sell for. That matters for how an appeal pays off: if the 15% cap is holding your value down, a comparable-sales win mainly protects your future baseline, and it only cuts this year's bill if your proven market value drops below your current capped value.

There's one big exception. The cap does not apply in the year an assessable transfer of interest — a sale or change of ownership — resets your value to current market. So if you bought recently, you're not cap-protected this year, and a lower proven value cuts your bill right away. Recent buyers get the full, immediate benefit of a successful appeal.

Building your case

Because the whole question is your home's fair market value, the winning evidence is recent, nearby comparable sales — homes like yours that actually closed, similar in size, age, and condition — not listing prices or online "Zestimate"-style guesses. Three or four clean comps with clear adjustments are far harder to dismiss than a complaint that the number "feels high." One South Carolina caution: the Board of Assessment Appeals can rule on the correctness of any element of your assessment (§12-60-2530), which means it can raise your value as well as lower it, and the Administrative Law Court hears the case fresh on further appeal — so file only when your comps clearly support a lower value.

Get your case built

You don't need to wait to get started. PROppeal pulls licensed comparable sales for your address, applies South Carolina's 4%/6% assessment rule, factors in whether the 15% reassessment cap changes your savings, and gives you a straight answer on whether your assessment is out of line — before your 90-day window closes.

Property tax rules and deadlines vary by jurisdiction and can change — verify with your county before relying on this.