The annual tax bills for 2024 have been mailed. Below are answers to some of the most common questions our office receives concerning these bills:
Legal Residence (4%)
The primary residence or legal residence tax rate is a substantial savings on your real property (house) tax bill. If your bill reflects the 6% tax rate but you are a resident of South Carolina, you will need to contact the Beaufort County Assessor's office at either 843-255-2400 (ext. 3) or assessor@bcgov.net. If this is your first time applying or you need to re-apply, you can find their "Legal Residence Application" on their web page here: Assessor Home Page
Homestead Exemption
Unlike the 4% legal residence exemption provided by the Assessor's office, the Homestead Exemption is a separate, smaller discount handled by our Auditor's office. This exemption is applicable to Beaufort County residents who are either: on their 66th birth year or older; are 100% totally and permanently disabled; or are legally blind.
Some more in-depth articles on what exactly the Homestead is can be found here:
What is the Homestead Exemption benefit?
Difference between Legal Residence and Homestead
How can I tell if I'm receiving the Homestead benefit?
Disabled veterans and Homestead
If you feel you qualify for this discount, please choose one of the following articles and review the qualifications you will need to meet in order for us to provide you the form. You will also be able to submit a ticket email to us at the bottom of these articles:
Qualifying based on age
Qualifying due to disability
Qualifying due to being legally blind
Applying as the surviving spouse of a qualified individual
Rental Tax Bills
Rental notices are mailed whenever our office either: receives value information on the contents of the rented home; or our office did not receive any notification on the status of the property (whether it was rented or not), resulting in an estimated bill. Fortunately, addressing rental bills is very straightforward, usually requiring that a "rental return form" be filed online.
If you received a rental bill but there is an issue, please choose one of the following articles that best matches your situation:
The property is not rented
The property is rented, but the value is incorrect
The property was rented, but now you are no longer renting
The property is rented, and it is also your primary residence
You are active duty military
The mailing address needs to be changed
Alternatively, if you submitted a rental return but there was an error on the submission, click here for the steps you can take to fix the issue.
Please be aware that we work rental returns in the order they are received, so the wait time for adjustments will vary. Rental returns submitted between October through late December will also have wait times impacted due to this being the annual billing season.