If you received a notice for your vehicle but you are a 100% totally and permanently disabled veteran, you may be eligible to receive exemptions on up to 2 motor vehicles. A “PT-401I” form will need to be completed and submitted to the South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR). Once this form has been processed, DOR will mail you a “Property Tax Exemption Approval” letter that can then be forwarded to our office to process an exemption on your account.
If you have already completed this process through DOR for the vehicle you received a tax bill for, please notify our office by using the request ticket form linked at the bottom of this article, and we will be able to provide you a personal property tax exemption waiver for DMV. Note that every other year, DMV charges a “renewal” fee that we cannot exempt. The fee can either be paid with the Beaufort County Treasurer’s office at 843-341-8404, or through the South Carolina DMV directly to update your decal and registration. DMV can be reached at either 803-896-5000 (Columbia), 843-379-8822 (Beaufort) or 843-815-6981 (Bluffton).
Additionally, anytime you sell or replace an exempt vehicle with a different vehicle, you must redo the application process with DOR for your latest vehicle purchase and have your old vehicle information removed from their records. Transferring your license plate off your exempt vehicle to your replacement vehicle will not automatically carry over your exemption benefits.
For questions on the vehicle exemption process, DOR can be reached at 803-898-5700 or Property.Exemptions@dor.sc.gov, while additional information can be found on their website: Exempt Property