South Carolina car registration and title fees

• Title fee — $15.00. Certificate of title, issued by the SCDMV. The dealer files the application for you. If you finance, your lender is recorded on the same title. (S.C. Code 56-19-420(A); SCDMV fees page)
• Registration (two years, with plate) — $40.00. Two years of registration and a new plate for a passenger car. It is $38 if you are 64 and $36 if you are 65 or older or have a qualifying disability. A pickup registers by gross vehicle weight instead, from $30 to $110 for two years. (S.C. Code 56-3-620, 56-3-660(B); SCDMV fees page)
• Plate transfer fee — $10.00. Moving your plate from the car you are replacing to this one. The plate has to be in your name and the car the same general type. It carries the registration you already paid. (S.C. Code 56-3-1290)
• Electric vehicle road use fee (two years) — $120.00. A road use fee in place of fuel tax, charged for two years on a car that runs only on electricity or hydrogen. It is added to the registration fee. (S.C. Code 56-3-645(A)(1); SCDMV fees page)
• Hybrid road use fee (two years) — $60.00. A road use fee charged for two years on a car that runs on both fuel and electricity, plug-in or not. It is added to the registration fee. (S.C. Code 56-3-645(A)(2); SCDMV fees page)

• Temporary license plate (est.) — $5.00 (dealer fee). The dealer issues a temporary plate when you buy. The law lets it charge its cost for the plate plus $5 that goes to the SCDMV, and no more. The dealer's price isn't published, so this shows the $5 minimum. Ask what it charges. Not needed if you move your own plate. (S.C. Code 56-3-210(J))

• South Carolina taxes the car itself as personal property every year, and that bill is not in this total. Your county auditor sends it after the sale. The tax is the car's value from the state's guide, times 6%, times your tax district's millage rate. In the counties checked, millage runs from about 250 to 580 mills, which is roughly $450 to $1,050 a year on a car valued at $30,000. Your county auditor's online tax estimator gives your number.
• If you buy from a dealer, the county bill is due within 120 days of the purchase date. It covers one year, paid in advance. Counties report unpaid bills to the SCDMV, which can suspend your license or registration after the due date.
• The county tax comes back every year, even though registration renews every two years. The bill has to be paid before the SCDMV will renew your plate. A car 15 or more model years old is assessed at a flat $50, so its tax is small.
• Registration renews every two years at the same fee. The infrastructure maintenance fee is paid once, when the car is first titled or registered.

• The $120 electric vehicle road use fee comes back with each two-year registration renewal.
• The $60 hybrid road use fee comes back with each two-year registration renewal.

• 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.
• 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.

Source: SC Department of Revenue — Infrastructure Maintenance Fee / Maximum Tax · rules last verified Oct 11, 2026. Methodology.