Do I need a sales tax permit in South Carolina?

Every business that sells at retail in South Carolina must get a retail license before making any retail sales that are subject to sales and use tax, including internet sales and infrequent sales made in the state. South Carolina calls the registration a South Carolina retail license. For a seller outside South Carolina, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. South Carolina's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

Sales tax permit · South Carolina

How to Get a South Carolina Retail License

The short answer. In South Carolina, the registration a business must hold before it makes sales subject to South Carolina sales tax is a South Carolina retail license, issued by the South Carolina Department of Revenue. The retail license costs $50 for each location. It is a one-time, non-refundable fee.

South Carolina Retail License at a Glance

What South Carolina calls it	South Carolina Retail License
Issued by	South Carolina Department of Revenue
How to apply	Not confirmed
Fee	$50 per location (see Cost)
Security deposit or bond	May be required
Expires	Does not expire (see Renewal)
Several locations	One for each location
Local sales tax	Depends (see Local taxes)
Threshold for sellers outside the state	$100,000 in sales

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Who Needs a South Carolina Retail License

Every business that sells at retail in South Carolina must get a retail license before making any retail sales that are subject to sales and use tax, including internet sales and infrequent sales made in the state.

For a seller outside South Carolina, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. South Carolina's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.

How to Apply

You apply to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Go to South Carolina's registration page.

South Carolina requires your registration to be displayed at the place of business.

What It Costs

The retail license costs $50 for each location. It is a one-time, non-refundable fee.

South Carolina may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Department may require a cash deposit or bond, of at least your annual sales tax liability, from a retailer that has no permanent retail sales location in South Carolina.

Does It Expire?

The retail license does not expire. It stays valid as long as you continue in the same business, unless the Department revokes it, and a retailer with no retail sales for 24 months in a row is presumed to have stopped and must surrender it unless it files an affidavit that the business is continuing.

More Than One Location

A business needs a separate retail license for each place of business in South Carolina.

Local Sales Taxes in South Carolina

The county local sales taxes are filed and paid with your state sales tax return to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. If you sell prepared food or rent lodging, ask your city or county whether it levies its own tax on those sales and how it is paid.

More for South Carolina Businesses

South Carolina resale certificate, for buying inventory for resale.
Sales tax nexus checker, to see which other states your sales may require you to register in.
South Carolina LLC guide, for forming and running an LLC in the state.
LLC guide for eBay sellers in South Carolina, for selling only through a marketplace.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Every business that sells at retail in South Carolina must get a retail license before making any retail sales that are subject to sales and use tax, including internet sales and infrequent sales made in the state. South Carolina calls the registration a South Carolina retail license. For a seller outside South Carolina, the economic nexus threshold is $100,000 in sales in the previous or current calendar year. South Carolina's own rule sets which sales count toward it and when registration must follow.
: The retail license costs $50 for each location. It is a one-time, non-refundable fee. South Carolina may require security, such as a bond or deposit. The Department may require a cash deposit or bond, of at least your annual sales tax liability, from a retailer that has no permanent retail sales location in South Carolina.
: The retail license does not expire. It stays valid as long as you continue in the same business, unless the Department revokes it, and a retailer with no retail sales for 24 months in a row is presumed to have stopped and must surrender it unless it files an affidavit that the business is continuing.
: A business needs a separate retail license for each place of business in South Carolina.
: The county local sales taxes are filed and paid with your state sales tax return to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. If you sell prepared food or rent lodging, ask your city or county whether it levies its own tax on those sales and how it is paid.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and tax agency say about the registration a business holds before it makes taxable sales, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own business must register: that turns on what you sell, where you sell it from, and how much you sell into the state, and fees, security rules and thresholds change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the tax agency named on this page before you start selling.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified South Carolina sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

scstatehouse.gov/code/t12c036.phpS.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 36 (12-36-510, 12-36-520, 12-36-540, 12-36-550)
dor.sc.gov/businesses/apply-business-tax-account/licensing-retail-licenseSCDOR, Licensing (Retail License)
dor.sc.gov/sales-use-tax-index/sales-tax/remote-sellersSCDOR, Remote Sellers
dor.sc.gov/sales-use-tax-index/local-sales-taxesSCDOR, Local Sales Taxes

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.