As home value assessments rise, South Carolina residents 65 and older are increasingly calling for property tax relief.
In response, the Senate advanced S.768, the bill would expand the current $50,000 homestead exemption.
After a round of adopted and rejected amendments in committee and on the Senate floor, the bill received second and third reading, advancing the legislation to the House for consideration.
What the legislation will do?
The current property tax homestead exemption applies to those 65 years of age or older with a one-year residency requirement. The exemption shields the first $50,000 of a home’s fair market value from certain property taxes.
Homeowners who qualified for the $50,000 exemption in tax year 2025, the exemption will be tripled to $150,000 in the following tax years.
Homeowners who did not qualify in 2025 would face enhanced residency requirements to receive an expanded exemption:
- A 10-year residency requirement for a $150,000 exemption
- A five-year residency requirement for a $75,000 exemption
A qualifying homeowner 65 or older with more than one year but fewer than five years of residency, applying after 2025, will fall into the original $50,000 category.
Homeowners who already applied and qualified for the 2025 exemption will not have to reapply to receive the $150,000 expansion.
What next?
The House now has the S.768 bill for consideration and will need to pass it without amendments to go straight to the governor’s desk for signature. If the House chooses to amend the bill, the Senate will have to agree with those amendments for advancement to signage.
If the Senate were to disagree, a conference committee between both chambers would be created to compromise a final bill. If no compromise is made, the bill will not advance to the governor’s desk.
The SC Policy Council welcomes the changes made in this bill. However, lawmakers must act on tax reform for other age brackets by moving an income tax bill forward. With homestead exemption and income tax reform paired together, lawmakers would be addressing affordability in a meaningful way.
