For members of the military who are active duty, claim their home of record in a state other than South Carolina, and are currently stationed in South Carolina, personal property exemption benefits are available for motor vehicles. Refer to one of the following:
If you are active duty and recently purchased, leased, or were gifted a vehicle, our office will need the following:
- The active duty member’s military ID
- The front and back of the signed-over vehicle title, a bill of sale, or the lease agreement paperwork
- The active duty member’s latest Leave and Earning Statement (LES)
- An LES for the same month the vehicle was purchased (if different from the latest LES)
- If the active duty member recently checked in to South Carolina, their signed and stamped Original Orders (printouts of the online Web Orders are not accepted) or Reporting Endorsement Orders
- If a co-buyer is listed, the front and back of their dependent military ID if they are a dependent, or their military ID and respective LES’s if they are also active duty – if not a dependent, their photo ID such as a driver’s license
- Your physical Beaufort County address
- Note that expired IDs are not accepted
If you are active duty and are looking to reregister a vehicle you own from another state, the following will be needed:
- The active duty member’s military ID
- The most current vehicle registration or the vehicle title
- The active duty member’s latest LES
- If the active duty member recently checked in to South Carolina, their signed and stamped Original Orders (printouts of the online Web Orders are not accepted) or Reporting Endorsement Orders
- If a co-owner is listed, the front and back of their dependent military ID if they are a dependent, or their military ID and latest LES if active duty – if not a dependent, their photo ID such as a driver’s license
- Your physical Beaufort County address
- Note that expired IDs are not accepted
The requested documentation can be submitted through the request ticket form linked below. Copies can be scans or images taken from a smartphone, as long as the information is legible and preferably in PDF or a common image file format (PNG, JPEG). Please include the mention of your physical Beaufort County address in the body of the email. Once processed, you will be given a blue tax exemption waiver to provide to the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Please be aware that if a non-dependent or non-active duty member is listed as a co-owner on the vehicle documentation, you may be entitled to a half military exemption instead of the full exemption, and a partial amount of the vehicle bill would need to be paid with the Beaufort County Treasurer’s office (843-341-8404). You will also receive a paid tax receipt from the Treasurer in place of a waiver to provide to DMV.
If you have any questions on how to fill out the vehicle title or a bill of sale, or for additional vehicle registration information, you will need to contact the South Carolina DMV. Their office can be reached at either 803-896-5000 (Columbia), 843-379-8822 (Beaufort) or 843-815-6981 (Bluffton).
Submit your information
To begin the process of having your motor vehicle registered, please provide our office the above applicable documentation by filling out and attaching documents to the request form linked here:
Motor Vehicle Request Ticket