South Carolina State Tax Calculator (2026)

How South Carolina taxes income

South Carolina charges 1.99% to 5.21%. State tax is a separate calculation from your federal return rather than a share of it — South Carolina sets its own schedule and its own definition of taxable income.

• Top marginal rate: 5.21%, reached at $30,000 for a single filer
• Brackets: 2 graduated bands, starting at 1.99%
• Standard deduction: $15,000 single / $30,000 joint
• Personal exemption: $4,930 per dependent (not applied here)

Rate figures are as of January 1, 2026 and were checked against South Carolina Department of Revenue on 2026-09-28 — the whole two-band schedule, the SCIAD amounts and the EITC cap against the SCDOR notice on H.4216. South Carolina can still change them mid-year.

What catches people out in South Carolina

• South Carolina has 2 brackets for a single filer, running from 1.99% on the first dollar up to 5.21% above $30,000.
• Joint filers use the SAME bracket floors as single filers rather than doubled ones, so two people earning similar amounts reach each rate at half the combined income they would have as individuals. That is a marriage penalty written into the schedule, and it is the opposite of how the federal brackets work.
• The South Carolina standard deduction is $15,000 for a single filer and $30,000 for a couple filing jointly. It is a separate figure from the federal standard deduction and usually much smaller, so itemising is a decision you make once federally and again for the state.
• South Carolina rewrote its individual income tax for 2026. House Bill 4216, signed 30 March 2026, replaced the old 0%/3%/6% graduated schedule with two bands - 1.99% below $30,000 and 5.21% at or above it - and the old 6% top rate no longer exists, so any table still showing 0% to 6% is describing 2025. The Act also decoupled South Carolina from the federal standard and itemized deductions, made federal adjusted gross income the starting point for the state return, and created the South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction in their place: $15,000 single or married filing separately, $22,500 head of household, $30,000 married filing jointly or surviving spouse, reducible at higher incomes in a way this estimate does not model. The state Earned Income Tax Credit is now capped at $200. The top rate can fall further each year: if the Board of Economic Advisors projects revenue growth of 5% or more it sets a new rate by 15 February, subject to a $200 million revenue limit, so this figure has a scheduled annual review date built into the statute.

What this estimate leaves out

Three things are deliberately outside this calculation, because they change more often than annually and a confident wrong number does real damage on a tax page.

• The personal exemption — $4,930 per dependent — is not applied, so the figure runs slightly high.
• Local and city income tax is not included. New York City is the significant one nationally.
• State-specific credits, subtractions and income addbacks are out of scope and can move the result either way.

If you have income in India, South Carolina is where treaty relief runs out

States are not parties to the India-US tax treaty, and a state credit for "taxes paid to other jurisdictions" almost always means other US states rather than other countries.

So NRO interest, Indian rental income or a gain on Indian shares can be taxed by South Carolina with no credit for the Indian tax deducted at source — even though Form 1116 largely neutralises that same tax federally.

The treatment is not uniform across states, so treat this as the general position rather than as South Carolina's confirmed one, and check the credit rules with South Carolina Department of Revenue before relying on relief.

Sources

• Tax Foundation — 2026 State Income Tax Rates and Brackets
• South Carolina Department of Revenue — the authority for South Carolina