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. If you are active duty and recently paid a tax bill for your watercraft, our office will need the following:
- A Leave and Earning Statement (LES) for the same month the bill was due, or up to 2 months prior
- 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 (expired IDs are not accepted), or their respective LES if they are active duty
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).
Once the requested documentation has been received, we will review your account. If approved, you will receive a refund check in the mail after 4-6 weeks from the Beaufort County Treasurer's office. It is recommended to include a good mailing address for the refund to be mailed to in your message. Note that refunds can only be requested on paid property tax bills up to 2 years after you made your payment.
Please be aware that we are not able to refund renewal fees charged by DNR. Likewise, if a non-dependent or non-active duty member is listed as a co-owner on the watercraft registration, you may be entitled to a half military exemption instead of the full exemption, and a partial amount of the watercraft bill will be refunded.