Moving to South Carolina: New Resident Checklist

South Carolina asks new residents to get a South Carolina driver’s license or ID card within 45 days of moving, and to hand in the out-of-state license. Bring proof of identity, citizenship and date of birth, your Social Security number, proof of your South Carolina address dated within the last nine months (two proofs for a REAL ID), and papers for any name change. You’ll take a vision test. If your old license expired more than nine months ago, you’ll take the knowledge and road tests too. Military members and students living here for a while don’t have to switch.

Deadline

45 days after you move

Cost

$25 for an 8-year license

Nearest DMV

15 Sheridan Park Circle, Bluffton

Phone

(843) 815-6981

There’s no DMV on Hilton Head. Hours, what to bring and the wait are on the DMV near Hilton Head; Bluffton residents use the same office, on the Bluffton DMV page.

You also have 45 days to title and register a car. The order matters, because the DMV wants a paid county tax receipt:

• 1. Give your insurer your new address. The policy has to come from a company licensed in South Carolina.

• 2. Take the car’s VIN and its current registration to the Beaufort County Auditor, which prepares a property tax bill.

• 3. Pay that bill at the Beaufort County Treasurer and keep the original receipt.

• 4. Take Form 400, the out-of-state title or registration, any lender’s details, your ID, proof of insurance and the paid tax receipt to the DMV.

Most passenger cars pay $305 at the DMV: a one-time $250 Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, a $15 title fee and a $40 registration, renewed every two years. That’s on top of the county tax, which is due every year. A late title application costs $10 to $75 more, depending on how late.

A home you own and live in is taxed at 4% of its value in South Carolina; a second home or rental is taxed at 6%, and it also pays the school operating tax. The lower rate isn’t automatic. Apply to the Beaufort County Assessor between January 1 of the tax year and January 15 of the next year, or within 90 days of an assessment notice. You can apply online and upload the papers.

Bring

South Carolina car registration and driver’s license or ID

Also

your latest South Carolina income tax return, for both spouses

Rental limit

rented 72 days a year or less

Assessor

(843) 255-2400

That’s why the license and the car come first: the Assessor asks for both. Without a South Carolina tax return yet, the 4% rate may be approved for one year only. You apply once, and tell the Assessor within six months if the home’s use or ownership changes. Bills are due January 15: see Beaufort County property taxes. At 65, the homestead exemption takes the first $50,000 of value off the bill, and South Carolina doesn’t tax Social Security: see South Carolina retirement taxes.

Register to vote, or change your address, at least 30 days before an election. South Carolina has no rule on how long you must have lived here first. You can register online at scVOTES.gov with a South Carolina driver’s license or ID, or at the DMV while you’re there.

Then set up power and water before moving day: see Hilton Head utilities or Bluffton utilities. For the truck, see Hilton Head movers. Still choosing where to live? Start at moving to Hilton Head.