South Carolina Paycheck & Income Tax Calculator

How South Carolina income tax works

South Carolina’s income tax was rewritten in March 2026, and the schedule that came out of it is written as a formula rather than a ladder. The statute says:

• taxable income under $30,000 — 1.99% of the amount
• $30,000 or more — 5.21% of the amount, minus $966

That second line looks odd until you check where the two meet. At exactly $30,000 the first line gives $597, and so does the second: 5.21% of $30,000 is $1,563, less $966, is $597. The subtraction exists precisely to make the bands join without a step, so in practice it behaves as an ordinary two-band progressive tax — 1.99% on the first $30,000, 5.21% on everything above.

What reaches those bands is the other half of the change. South Carolina no longer uses the federal standard deduction. In its place is the South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction, or SCIAD: $15,000 for a single filer, $22,500 for head of household, $30,000 filing jointly. But it shrinks as income rises, which is where this state gets interesting.

A single filer on $75,000 keeps only $5,460 of that $15,000, leaving $69,540 of South Carolina taxable income and about $2,657 in state tax — an effective state rate of roughly 3.5%.

There is no local income tax anywhere in South Carolina and no employee-side payroll levy, so these figures need nothing added.

What Act 110 changed

H.4216 was ratified on March 25, 2026, and approved by the Governor on March 30, 2026, becoming Act 110. It applies to tax years beginning after 2025, so tax year 2026 is the first year under it.

Two changes landed together.

The rates. The old schedule ran a zero-rate first band, 3% in the middle and 6.2% at the top. Act 110 scrapped all of it for 1.99% and 5.21%.

The deduction. Section 2 of the act amended the list of federal provisions South Carolina specifically does not adopt, adding the federal standard deduction and itemized deductions to it outright. South Carolina taxable income now starts from federal adjusted gross income rather than federal taxable income, with the SCIAD subtracted instead.

That second change is why this state cannot be built the way most are. A calculator that assumes South Carolina takes the federal $16,100 gets both the deduction and the starting point wrong, in opposite directions.

The act also set a path toward zero. From tax year 2027 the top rate must fall whenever individual income tax revenue is projected to grow by at least 5% year on year, and it keeps falling until it reaches 1.99%. Once the top rate has come all the way down, the 1.99% itself then starts reducing — and applies to all taxable income — until the income tax reaches zero. It is a revenue-triggered mechanism, so the direction is fixed but the timing is not, much like Oklahoma’s. Mississippi, by contrast, runs its reductions on a fixed calendar.

One smaller change worth knowing: the state earned income credit remains 125% of the federal credit, but Act 110 capped it at $200.

The SCIAD, and the 6.62% band nobody mentions

This part of South Carolina’s new law is easy to overlook, and it changes what a raise is worth for a large share of the state.

The SCIAD does not simply disappear at a threshold. It is reduced by a fraction of itself: the numerator is your federal AGI above $40,000, and the denominator is $55,000. Once that fraction reaches one the deduction is gone entirely — at $95,000 of AGI. For joint filers the same structure runs from $80,000 to $190,000.

Both work out to the same rate of withdrawal. $15,000 over $55,000 and $30,000 over $110,000 are each exactly three elevenths — about 27.3 cents of deduction lost per extra dollar earned.

Now follow what that does to a raise. Inside the phase-out band, one more dollar of income adds a dollar to what is taxed and removes about 27 cents of shelter, so taxable income climbs by roughly $1.27. Multiply by the 5.21% rate and the real marginal rate is 5.21% × 14/11 ≈ 6.63% — measured across an actual $1,000 raise, about 6.62%, because the act rounds each reduction down to the next lowest ten dollars in your favor.

So between $40,000 and $95,000 of AGI, a single South Carolinian faces a marginal state rate of roughly 6.62% — higher than the 6.2% top rate the state has just abolished. Above $95,000 the deduction has already gone, nothing more can be withdrawn, and the marginal rate drops back to 5.21% and stays there.

That produces something unusual: South Carolina’s marginal rate now rises, peaks across the middle of the income range, and then falls. Someone on $60,000 faces a higher rate on their next dollar than someone on $200,000. The calculator above applies the taper exactly, including the ten-dollar rounding, so the figures reflect this rather than the flat 5.21% headline.

One assumption is worth stating. The phase-out is measured on federal AGI, and this page treats your salary as your AGI. If you have above-the-line adjustments — deductible HSA or traditional IRA contributions, student loan interest — your AGI is lower, your SCIAD is larger, and your South Carolina tax is lower than shown. Inside the phase-out band each dollar of adjustment is worth about 6.6 cents of state tax rather than 5.2, so this is one of the few states where those contributions pay slightly more than the headline rate suggests.

Take-home pay at every salary in South Carolina

After federal tax, South Carolina state tax and FICA, with the SCIAD phase-out applied at each income. With no local income tax and no state payroll levy, these figures hold anywhere in the state — Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Rock Hill and Mount Pleasant alike.

What lands in your account each payday

On $75,000 a year in South Carolina, filing single, split across the pay schedules employers actually use.

One bracket table for everyone

Most states that tax income widen their brackets for married couples, usually doubling each threshold. South Carolina does not, and Act 110 kept it that way.

The rate table in the statute has no filing-status columns at all. The $30,000 split point is the same whether you file singly, jointly, separately or as head of household. Two people each earning $50,000 pass through identical bands whether they marry or not.

The SCIAD is where filing status does matter — $15,000 single against $30,000 joint, with the phase-out thresholds doubled to match. So a couple gets twice the deduction but not wider bands.

The practical effect is that South Carolina’s marriage penalty sits in the bracket structure and its marriage bonus sits in the deduction. Against North Carolina next door, which applies one flat rate to everyone and so has no bracket-width question at all, or Georgia, which does the same, South Carolina’s schedule asks more of the arithmetic.

Dates that matter — and the year South Carolina moved one

For the 2026 tax year, South Carolina returns (Form SC1040) are due April 15, 2027, matching the federal deadline.

The year before was not normal, and it is worth knowing why. On March 26, 2026 the Department of Revenue extended the filing deadline for all 2025 South Carolina returns to October 15, 2026 — six extra months, granted automatically, with no form to file. The reason was conformity: Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after South Carolina’s legislature had adjourned, the state had not yet decided which of its provisions to adopt, and returns could not be finalized until it did. The extension covered filing only. At least 90% of the 2025 liability still had to be paid by April 15, 2026 to avoid penalties.

Act 110 largely removes that problem going forward. By decoupling from the federal standard and itemized deductions altogether, South Carolina made its own deduction independent of whatever Congress does next.

Because the new law arrived part-way through 2026, withholding tables were reissued during the year and anyone paying estimated tax had to recalculate mid-year. Estimated payments, if required, fall quarterly in April, June, September and the following January.

Questions people ask

What is the South Carolina income tax rate for 2026?

Two brackets. Taxable income under $30,000 is taxed at 1.99%; $30,000 and above is taxed at 5.21% of the whole amount minus $966. The $966 subtraction makes the two bands join seamlessly, so it works out the same as paying 1.99% on the first $30,000 and 5.21% on the rest. These rates were set by H.4216, signed as Act 110 on March 30, 2026.

What happened to South Carolina's 6% top rate?

It is gone. Act 110 replaced the old three-band schedule, which topped out at 6.2%, with the two brackets above. Anything still quoting 6%, 6.2% or a zero-rate first band is describing 2025 or earlier.

What is the SCIAD?

The South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction, created by Act 110 to replace the federal standard deduction, which South Carolina now specifically does not adopt. It is $15,000 for a single filer, $22,500 for head of household and $30,000 filing jointly.

Does the SCIAD phase out?

Yes. It is reduced by a fraction of itself once federal AGI passes $40,000 for a single filer ($80,000 joint), reaching nil at $95,000 ($190,000 joint). The withdrawal works out at just over 27 cents of deduction per extra dollar earned.

Why is my real marginal rate 6.62% and not 5.21%?

Because inside the phase-out band each extra dollar you earn is taxed and also costs you about 27 cents of deduction, so your taxable income rises by roughly $1.27. That makes the effective marginal rate about 6.62% between $40,000 and $95,000 — higher than the 6.2% top rate South Carolina just abolished. Above $95,000 the deduction is already gone and the marginal rate settles back to 5.21%.

Do married couples get wider brackets in South Carolina?

No. Act 110 sets out a single bracket table that applies to every filing status, so the $30,000 split point is the same whether you file singly or jointly. The SCIAD does double for joint filers, but the brackets do not widen.

Does any South Carolina city charge a local income tax?

No. No South Carolina municipality or county levies an income tax, so where you live in the state does not change your income tax bill.

Are South Carolina payroll deductions taken from my paycheck?

Not by the state. South Carolina unemployment insurance is employer-funded and the state runs no disability or paid family leave program. Beyond the state income tax, the only deductions are federal.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, and the salary you type is never sent to a server or stored. It never leaves your device.