State Tax Laws > Property Taxes > Summary > South Carolina

For the complete text of South Carolina statutes please refer to the South Carolina Code of Laws, and other property tax information please refer to the South Carolina Department of Revenue.

Property Classification:

For property tax purposes land used to grow timber is classified as "agricultural use land" and is is taxed on the basis of its fair market value for agricultural purposes. 

Agricultural real property - means any tract of real property which is used to raise, harvest or store crops, feed, breed or manage livestock, or to produce plants, trees, fowl or animals useful to man, including the preparation of the products raised thereon for man's use and disposed of by marketing or other means. 

It includes, but is not limited to, such real property used for agricultural, grazing, horticulture, forestry, dairying, and mariculture. In the event at least 50 percent of a real tract shall qualify as "agricultural real property", the entire tract shall be so classified, provided no other business for profit is being operated thereon. The term "agricultural real property" shall not include any property used as the residence of the owner. 

The agricultural use of the property must be genuine in nature as opposed to sham or deception. The following factors shall be considered by county assessors in determining whether the tract in question is bona fide agricultural real property: (These factors are not, however, meant to be exclusive and all relevant facts must be considered).

1.The nature of the terrain;

2.The density of the marketable product (timber, etc.) on the land;

3.The past usage of the land;

4.The economic merchantability of the agricultural product;

5.The use or not of recognized care, cultivation, harvesting and like practices applicable to the product involved, and any implemented plans thereof, and

6.The business or occupation of the landowner or lessee, however, the fact that the tract may have been purchased for investment purposes does not disqualify it if actually used for agricultural purposes. 

In cases in which the real property is committed to uses in addition to agricultural uses the agricultural activity must be the most significant use of the property in order for it to be classified as agricultural real property.

The following uses of real property do not qualify as agricultural:

1. Recreation

2. Hunting Clubs

3. Fishing Clubs

4. Vacant Land (Land lying dormant)

5. Any other similar use

In addition to all other requirements for real property to be classified as agricultural real property, the property must meet the following requirements: (Sec 12-43-232)

1. If the tract is used to grow timber, the tract must be 5 acres or more devoted actively to growing trees for commercial use. Tracts of timberland of less than five acres which are contiguous to or are under the same management system as a tract of timberland which meets the minimum acreage requirement are treated as part of the qualifying tract. 

2. Tracts of timberland of less than five acres are eligible to be agricultural real property when they are owned in combination with other tracts of nontimberland agricultural real property that qualify as agricultural real property.

3. A tract which meets the acreage requirement above that is devoted to growing Christmas trees is considered timberland. A Christmas tree tract not meeting the acreage requirement qualifies as agricultural property if the landowner reports gross income from Christmas trees of at least $1,000 for at least 3 of the 5 taxable years preceding the year of the application for agricultural use classification.

For "tracts not used to grow timber" the tract must be 10 acres or more. Nontimberland tracts of less than ten acres which are contiguous to other such tracts which, when added together, meet the minimum acreage requirement, are treated as a qualifying tract. Contiguous tracts include tracts with identical owners of record separated by a dedicated highway, street, or road or separated by any other public way.

Application: To qualify for agricultural classification, a written application must be filed by the current owners or their agents by May 1 of the tax year in which the special assessment is claimed. The filing date may be extended by the county governing body upon a showing of good cause. No additional annual filing is required while the use of the property remains bona fide agricultural and the ownership remains the same.

The property will continue to be classified as agricultural real property until the property is applied to some other use or until the property is transferred to other than an immediate family member, whichever occurs first.

Rollback taxes: If property in agricultural use is applied to another use, the property is subject to "rollback taxes" in an amount equal to the difference between the taxes paid on the basis of agricultural valuation and the taxes that would have been paid had the property been assessed as other real property in the year of the change and each of the five immediately preceding years. (Sec. 12-43-220(d)(3))

Valuation and Assessment:

Each class of property is assessed at a ratio unique to that type of property. The assessment ratio is applied to the market value of the property to determine the assessed value of the property. Each county and municipality then applies its millage rate to the assessed value to determine the tax due. The millage rate is equivalent to the tax per $1,000 of assessed value.

If a timely application is filed, agricultural real property is assessed at a ratio of 4% of its fair market value for agricultural purposes when the owner or lessee is an individual, partnership or small business corporation. 

When the owner is a corporation, the land is assessed at a ratio of 6% of its fair market value for agricultural purposes. Effective June 13, 1997, the fair market value of agricultural real property is the value from the 1991 tax year. (Sec 12-43-220)

If the owner of agricultural land does not ask for classification of his land as agricultural property, the land is assessed at 6% of fair market value, rather than 4% of fair market value for agricultural purposes.

Section 12-43-220(d) of the 1976 Code, as amended, provides for the valuation of timberland at its fair market value for such agricultural use by the capitalization of typical net income. The procedure used to capitalize typical net income is as follows:

Timberland is valued based on the potential yield of the timberland site measured by the capability of the soils to produce timber with good management.

The following yields are established as representing typical production levels:

Class	Site Index	Cords Per Acre
Class 1	96+	1.7
Class 2	86-95	1.5
Class 3	76-85	1.2
Class 4	66-75	1.0
Class 5	51-65	.8
Class 6	Partially Suitable for Timber
Class 7	Saltwater Marsh

Values per acre are determined by:

yield/acre x weighted price/cord - management costs
	capitalization rate

The value per acre determined above is then multiplied by 4% (the state assessment percentage for agricultural use land). That result is then multiplied by the local millage rate to determine the tax liability.

Severance Tax: (Sec. 48-30-40)

An assessment is levied on all primary forest products harvested from land within South Carolina to be deposited in the Forest Renewal Fund. The assessment is actually levied against the processor (Sec. 48-30-70). The fund is to be used to provide financial assistance for landowners to increase productivity of privately-owned forests and to ensure that forest operations are conducted in a manner protective to soil, air and water resources.

The assessment rates shall be based on the following standards: (Sec. 48-30-60)

1. For primary forest products customarily measured in board feet, the "Scribner Log Rule", as identified in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service publication "Tables for Measuring Board Foot Volume of Timber" or equivalent shall be used.

2. For primary forest products customarily measured in cords, the standard cord of 128 cubic feet or equivalent. 

3. For any other type of forest product separated from the soil, the State Forester shall determine a fair unit assessment rate, based on the cubic foot volume of one thousand foot board measure, Scribner Log Rule as defined in item 1 above, or one standard cord.

The assessment levied on primary forest products shall be at the following rates:

$0.50/1000' bd. ft.	softwood sawtimber, veneer logs and bolts and all other softwood, including bald cypress, products normally measured in board feet.
$0.25/1000' bd. ft.	hardwood and sawtimber, veneer and all other hardwood products normally measured in board feet.
$0.20/cord	softwood pulpwood and other softwood products normally measured in cords.
$0.07/cord	hardwood pulpwood and other hardwood products normally measured in cords.

All material harvested within South Carolina for shipment outside the State for primary processing shall be assessed at yield rates equal to rates on material harvested and processed within the State.