What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

S. CAROLINA AIRPLANE TAX?

dabney

Well Known Member
Friend
I may be relocating to SC with my RV. Seeking information on any taxes annually or initially that exist if owning plane registered in SC. The state where I am now has an annual property tax of 1%
 
Property tax is based on your county of residence and varies widely county-to-county. :eek:
 
Property tax is based on your county of residence and varies widely county-to-county. :eek:

County of your residence or the plane's residence?

In CA, it's were the plane resides. Don't know about other states
 
S Carolina move

Looking at buying a home in Margaritaville in Hardeeville..I think that is Jasper County.

Must be a county website to look up the plane tax??
 
S Carolina property tax

I found the Jasper County Assessor website. It states that vehicles have an "assessment ratio" of 6-10.5% and aircraft 4% of fair market value. That can't mean you pay that much very year on your car and airplane, can it?
 
County of your residence or the plane's residence?

In CA, it's were the plane resides. Don't know about other states

At least in my county, and I am pretty sure it is state-wide, property tax is based on your county of residence, not where the aircraft is based.
 
I live just outside Rock Hill, SC and was wondering the same thing with taxes. Van's charges sales tax on the kits, then SC charges property taxes yearly. Does anyone know if you have to pay the taxes twice or do you somehow get the sales taxes back.

BTW: You don't pay sales tax (as far as I know) on a plane purchase in SC. Instead you pay a yearly property tax on it. If yoou have to pay sales and property taxes it seems they would be double dipping
 
Ronshort,
That is what we’ve got in Va. Sales tax on the plane, called use tax, then yearly personal property tax based on county airplane is based in. State also charges for a little sticker they want stuck on the plane. Some va counties have very high pp taxes on everything with a title that they can trace. Double taxation never stopped a politician.
 
I found the Jasper County Assessor website. It states that vehicles have an "assessment ratio" of 6-10.5% and aircraft 4% of fair market value. That can't mean you pay that much very year on your car and airplane, can it?

It could be. In Spartanburg county some years ago airplanes were taxed at about 10% of the value because the county knew that anyone that had an airplane was "rich folks". At some point they figured out that there were not many airplanes registered there so they lowered the taxes to the rate of a car. I do not know what that is but it is a lot less. The county also made efforts to tax airplanes registered out of state if you owned property in Spartanburg with mixed results. Your mileage may vary depending on how greedy the tax people are in Jasper county.
 
SC Tax

Setup an LLC in Deleware and register your aircraft there. Before I learned, and had my RV-9A registered in SC, the tax on it was more than the annual tax on my house. As they said, each county is different but it is still very expensive in my opinion.
 
It could be. In Spartanburg county some years ago airplanes were taxed at about 10% of the value because the county knew that anyone that had an airplane was "rich folks". At some point they figured out that there were not many airplanes registered there so they lowered the taxes to the rate of a car. I do not know what that is but it is a lot less. The county also made efforts to tax airplanes registered out of state if you owned property in Spartanburg with mixed results. Your mileage may vary depending on how greedy the tax people are in Jasper county.

As an example, I just sold my 1974 Piper Archer that I owned for over 30 years. At the time I sold it, the property taxes in my county were about $170 a year. The new owner, who lives in an adjacent county, was quoted an estimated $2000. Not sure if he will end up paying that, but his county is known for very high personal property taxes. YMMV.
 
Setup an LLC in Deleware and register your aircraft there. Before I learned, and had my RV-9A registered in SC, the tax on it was more than the annual tax on my house. As they said, each county is different but it is still very expensive in my opinion.

Here in CA that doesn’t work. The state sends inspectors around to airports, writing down N numbers, and if they determine that you have a ‘continuous presence’ (whatever that means) they send a tax bill.
It’s only a matter of time before SC catches up.
 
Sales and property taxes

In Virginia (and a lot of other places), you have sales/use tax on the one hand, and property tax on the other. They're different and unfortunately paying both doesn't count as double playing. :)

In Virginia, you also need an aircraft license annually. That's $5 (a bargain!) and you get a cool little sticker but.... in order to get it, you have to show that you paid sales/use if applicable, identify the place where the aircraft is based (so the property tax guys can find you), AND show that you have liability insurance, which is required here. It becomes an expensive $5.

I live just outside Rock Hill, SC and was wondering the same thing with taxes. Van's charges sales tax on the kits, then SC charges property taxes yearly. Does anyone know if you have to pay the taxes twice or do you somehow get the sales taxes back.

BTW: You don't pay sales tax (as far as I know) on a plane purchase in SC. Instead you pay a yearly property tax on it. If yoou have to pay sales and property taxes it seems they would be double dipping
 
Setup an LLC in Deleware and register your aircraft there. Before I learned, and had my RV-9A registered in SC, the tax on it was more than the annual tax on my house. As they said, each county is different but it is still very expensive in my opinion.

Property taxes are based on where the aircraft is home based. It does not matter if it’s in a LLC. Both NC and SC require airports to report all the N numbers of aircraft based there. They catch up with you eventually.
 
I live in Fairfield County. Sales tax on airplanes is limited to $500 statewide. I paid that on my Wing kit and Van's knows not to charge me any more going forward. In my county an airplane with a value of $120K will owe approximately $2000 per year. Incidentally, I have a diesel pusher motor home and I pay $5000 per year on it in this county. Surrounding counties are about 1/3 less.
 
Tax

Setup an LLC in Deleware and register your aircraft there. Before I learned, and had my RV-9A registered in SC, the tax on it was more than the annual tax on my house. As they said, each county is different but it is still very expensive in my opinion.

I was told a couple of months ago that a representative of the SC Dept of Revenue was at the Lancaster County Airport writing down N numbers in every hanger he could access. Even motorhomes are under scrutiny now in SC if the motorhome has a tag registered in say South Dakota and the car it's towing has a South Carolina tag.
They are serious around here about getting their pound of flesh. I complained once...was told "you have too many toys". Take that for what it's worth.
 
[ I complained once...was told "you have too many toys". Take that for what it's worth.[/QUOTE]

What a sorry comment for a government official to make.
 
Yup.

Happens here in VA too. In fact, I think airport managers are required to identify, for state/local government, the aircraft based at their airports.

I offer no legal advice to anyone, least of all somebody in SC. But anyone who thinks registering in Delaware will avoid taxes on aircraft in his or her state REALLY needs to talk to an accountant or lawyer about that matter.

I was told a couple of months ago that a representative of the SC Dept of Revenue was at the Lancaster County Airport writing down N numbers in every hanger he could access. Even motorhomes are under scrutiny now in SC if the motorhome has a tag registered in say South Dakota and the car it's towing has a South Carolina tag.
They are serious around here about getting their pound of flesh. I complained once...was told "you have too many toys". Take that for what it's worth.
 
"Based" is a bit of an arbitrary term. Many folks from the colder climates buy a second home in a warmer climate. Are they supposed to pay the full tax amount in both locations on their cars, motor homes, airplanes, etc?

What a disgusting bunch of leeches. I guess tax collectors have a reputation for good reason.
 
Usually (probably based on the state) you can prorate the property tax based on percentage of time based in the state.
 
Back
Top