South Carolina boat motors may be getting taxed twice. What’s being done?
As S.C. lawmakers push to remove a tax on boat owners’ outboard motors, a review of tax records show that many counties are double taxing boat owners already.
South Carolina is one of few states in the nation that tax a boat and its outboard motor separately, with two different local property taxes collected by each county. But tax receipts suggest that in many cases, residents’ boats are getting assessed at the sale price — usually inclusive of the boat and the motor — before taxpayers are taxed again for the price of the motor separately.
Rep. Gary Brewer, R-Charleston, said he’s experienced it himself.
“I get my boat tax in the mail, and then two weeks later I get the outboard motor tax, and you can see where you’re getting double taxed,” he said.
Brewer is now co-sponsoring legislation in the S.C. House of Representatives to end the separate motor tax altogether and combining the legal title into what those taxpayers are paying already, a single — but lower — tax on the boat and motor.
Double taxation?
Ronnie McCoy has also experienced the issue first hand. The Lamar resident was hit last year with a $2,679 Darlington County tax bill on his new Skeeter FXR 21, much more than he felt he should have been charged.
“I was relatively shocked,” McCoy said of his reaction when he was presented with the tax bill. “I said, ‘That don’t sound right.’”
McCoy equipped his new purchase with additional features for tournament fishing, and he went back to the dealer he bought it from to get an itemized receipt to take back to the tax office. That managed to get his tax bill cut back to $1,208. His motor tax for the same purchase was $653.
Even so, McCoy is aggrieved he still ended up paying tax on another item included in the sale price — the trailer the boat sat on.
“South Carolina does not require a trailer [property] tax,” McCoy said. “You can just buy one for a tractor and not have to pay taxes on it.”
McCoy is hardly alone. A review of publicly available tax records from four South Carolina counties show many tax bills on residents’ boats are higher than the listed retail value of their watercraft, often by a similar amount to the assessed value of the outboard motor.
Saluda County had the most examples of those examined, about a dozen, including:
- A 2023 Ranger Z500 was assessed by the county at $63,000, although the J.D. Power assesses a lower base retail price of $44,960. The motor tax for the same taxpayer was $23,000.
- A 2021 Bennington 24 was assessed at $42,761, while the lower base price for that model is listed at $31,540. The motor tax for the same taxpayer was $13,238.
- A 2024 Xpress H17 was assessed at $25,857, while the lower base price for the model is $16,480. The motor tax was $10,952.
- A 2023 Crest Pontoon Caribbean Series was assessed at $73,333, but the average listed retail price is $44,590. The motor tax was $24,571.
The State reached out to the Saluda County auditor’s office for comment on the discrepancies, but did not receive a reply before publication.
Justin Altman is the president of Marshall’s Marine boat dealership in Lake City. As boats become more expensive and add more high-tech features, he said he’s had to itemize bills of sale for several customers, including McCoy, who want to fight off a higher tax bill.
“I don’t think it’s deliberate, but I’m assuming an evaluation method like a book value,” Altman said. “I understand whoever is doing that for the county doesn’t understand the value of the boat.”
Lawmakers take action
At least 46 lawmakers have signed on to a bill in the S.C. House of Representatives that would end the separate tax on boat motors. That legislation is currently in the Ways and Means Committee, but faces opposition from counties that may see a loss of local revenue if the change goes through.
But bill sponsor Brewer said the change could induce larger boat owners to register their high-value watercraft in South Carolina. Currently, many of those with the means to do so register their boats outside of the state, Brewer said, where they will be taxed at a lower rate.
“Most of those valued at over $50,000 are not registered here even if they are owned by South Carolina residents,” he said. “They register in Florida or other states, where they can go buy a piece of property and register it there, and it’s still cheaper than paying property tax on it in South Carolina.”
In addition to eliminating the separate outboard motor tax, Brewer said he is also looking to slash South Carolina’s boat tax from 10.5% to 5.25%. The current tax rate is one of the highest in the country and about three times what a boat owner would pay in neighboring counties of North Carolina or Georgia.
The bill does face opposition from some lawmakers, such as Rep. Cal Forrest, R-Saluda, who worry about the impact of the tax change on smaller counties’ revenue. He estimates his constituents in Saluda County could see a drop of up to $400,000 in revenue next tax year if the bill passes.
“Everybody wants to reduce taxes, including me,” Forrest said. “But this is not a tax reduction, it’s a tax shift,” he said, fearing that property taxes will ultimately be raised on home and car owners to make up for any lost revenue.
“I can’t do that to the people of my county,” Forrest said.
But Rep. Joe White, R-Newberry, who represents much of the Lake Murray waterfront around Dreher Island, said he’s less sympathetic to the claims of local needs for the outboard motor revenue.
“I think we need to look at how to save money, not how to spend money,” White said. “Rarely do we look to see how we can save money at the county level.”
In the meantime, Altman, the boat dealer, recommends anyone interested in purchasing a boat get the kind of itemized sales receipt he’s started providing to customers.
“Once we do that, they’ve been more than happy to adjust it,” he said. “But how many people just pay it and assume it is what it is?”
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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