Out-the-door price in South Carolina
How South Carolina works
- South Carolina charges no sales tax on a car you register in the state. It charges a one-time infrastructure maintenance fee of 5% of the price, never more than $500. The cap is reached at a $10,000 amount, so most buyers pay exactly $500. The fee is the same statewide: no city or county adds to it.
- Your trade-in comes off the price before the 5% is figured, on new and used cars, with no dollar limit. The dealer's doc fee and accessories are part of the amount; separately stated service contracts and GAP are not. Whether a manufacturer rebate lowers it is unsettled. It rarely changes anything, because the cap applies on most cars.
- South Carolina calls the doc fee a closing fee. The state does not cap it in dollars. A dealer files its maximum with the Department of Consumer Affairs: $225 or less is treated as reasonable without review, and a higher fee can be reviewed against the dealer's actual costs.
- The dealer collects the fee and files your title and registration. It gives you a temporary plate, valid for 60 days (45 days before October 6, 2026). The SCDMV mails the plate and registration. You have 45 days to register.
- Registration is for two years, and the amounts above are for a passenger car. A pickup pays by weight. A hybrid adds $60 and an electric car adds $120 for the two years.
- The county property tax bill is not in the total. It comes after the sale and repeats every year; see the notes with your result. It is the largest South Carolina cost after the car itself.
- If you are bringing a car you already own into South Carolina, the fee is a flat $250 instead, and this calculator does not cover that.
Rules last verified Oct 11, 2026. Our methodology.
Try it for your ZIP
What a South Carolina advertised price has to include
South Carolina requires a dealer to disclose its closing fee clearly in any ad for a specific vehicle, but its law does not say the advertised price itself must include it. The FTC expects more: every fee the dealer charges, the closing fee included, belongs in the advertised price, so only government charges like the infrastructure maintenance fee, title and registration can be added on top. That still isn't your out-the-door number; the calculator above adds the rest for your ZIP.
Federal law comes first
The FTC requires a dealer's advertised price to include every fee the dealer charges. Only charges the government requires you to pay, like tax, title and registration, can be left out. Where a state's rules let a dealer leave a fee out, the dealer still has to follow the federal rule, so the fee goes in. The FTC says a state's doc-fee rules can add disclosures, but they don't change the price that has to be advertised. Read the FTC's guidance.
South Carolina law and the FTC conflict on the closing fee
South Carolina law requires the closing fee to be disclosed in an ad, not included in the advertised price. The FTC expects every fee a dealer charges, the closing fee included, to be in the advertised price. A dealer can satisfy both by including it. Until regulators or the courts settle it, you may see South Carolina ads that show the fee next to a price that leaves it out. Ask whether a price includes it, and get the out-the-door price in writing.
What the FTC expects in the advertised price
- The closing fee (South Carolina's doc fee; $225 or less is treated as reasonable, with no dollar cap)
- Freight (destination) and dealer preparation charges
- Anything the dealer has added to the car, such as accessories already installed
- The temporary plate, if the dealer charges for it (at least $5)
- Any other fee the dealer requires
Can still be added on top
- The infrastructure maintenance fee: 5% of the price, up to $500
- The title fee ($15), registration ($40 for two years) and, on a hybrid or electric car, the road use fee
- The county property tax bill that follows the sale
- Optional products you choose to buy, such as a service contract or GAP coverage
- The closing fee: the dealer files its maximum with the Department of Consumer Affairs before charging it. The law defines the fee as recovering the dealer's actual costs of closing and delivering the sale. A fee of $225 or less is treated as reasonable without review; a higher one can be reviewed against the dealer's costs. The fee has to appear on the contract, be posted in the dealership and be disclosed in any ad for a specific vehicle.
- What changed in 2023: until May 16, 2023, the statute said the closing fee had to be included in the advertised price. The 2023 rewrite (Act 45) replaced that with a requirement that it be clearly and conspicuously disclosed in any ad. The Department's form says it must be displayed with the advertised price. Older guides online may still describe the earlier rule.
- Official fees stay separate: the Department says tax, tags and title are not part of the closing fee and go on the contract as their own lines.
- Discounts and rebates in ads: a discount has to come off the sticker (MSRP) price, or the ad has to show both the original and the discounted price. An ad can't make the price depend on a trade-in or a down payment. A rebate can be counted in the advertised price only if most buyers can get it.
- Required accessories: on a new car, a dealer can't make you buy features or accessories you didn't ask for, unless they were already installed when the dealer received the car and it tells you before the sale. Under the FTC's position, installed add-ons belong in the advertised price.
More in our guide: Do dealers have to put fees in the advertised price? What actually changed for 2026
See every state: Which states let dealers leave the doc fee out of the advertised price?
South Carolina in detail
South Carolina OTD questions, answered
Does a trade-in reduce sales tax in South Carolina?
Yes — South Carolina taxes the difference: your trade-in's value is subtracted before tax is computed.
Are manufacturer rebates taxed in South Carolina?
Effectively yes — tax is computed before the rebate is applied, so you pay tax on the pre-rebate price.
Is the doc fee capped in South Carolina?
Not as a hard limit. South Carolina treats a closing fee of $225 or less as approved (S.C. Code 37-2-307). A dealer can charge more by filing its fee and its costs with the state Department of Consumer Affairs, which may review it, and it has to display the fee in the dealership and disclose it on the contract and in any ad for a specific vehicle.
What does a South Carolina dealer's advertised price have to include?
Every fee the dealer charges, including the closing fee (the FTC's position; South Carolina requires the dealer to disclose the closing fee in the ad but not to include it in the price, so the two conflict). Only the infrastructure maintenance fee, title, registration and other government charges can be added on top.
Is there a cap on South Carolina dealer doc fees?
Not in dollars. A closing fee of $225 or less is treated as reasonable. A dealer has to file its maximum with the Department of Consumer Affairs first, and above $225 the Department can review it against the dealer's costs. Ask whether the dealer has filed for more than $225.
Do I pay sales tax on a car in South Carolina?
No. A car you register in the state owes the infrastructure maintenance fee instead: 5% of the price, no more than $500, the same in every county. The dealer collects it.
Does the dealer register my car in South Carolina?
Usually yes. A dealer that offers to title and register the car collects the fee and files within 45 days, and it gives you a temporary plate. The SCDMV mails the plate and registration. The county sends a separate property tax bill, due within 120 days of the purchase date.