South Carolina

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

—

Zoning-restricted

No

Cap on licenses

No

Zoning: No state-level zoning restriction on short-term rentals. South Carolina does not preempt local STR regulation, and zoning/land-use authority over STRs rests entirely with municipalities and counties under Title 6, Chapter 29 (Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act). Pending S. 442 (2025-2026) would expressly confirm local power to require registration/permits or prohibit STRs and states it does not interfere with local authority under Chapter 29, Title 6 — but it is not law.

• No state STR permit, cap, primary-residence rule, minimum-stay rule, or annual night cap exists as of 2026-07-16. The state layer is tax-only.
• The 90-continuous-day rule in § 12-36-920(A) is a TAX boundary (defines who is not a 'transient'), not a minimum- or maximum-stay restriction on operating. Renting to the same person for 90 continuous days moves the stay out of the 7% accommodations tax.
• Owner-occupied exclusion (fewer than six sleeping rooms): the owner/operator's own bedroom counts toward the six, so at most five rooms exist and at least one must be the owner's; the facility must be the owner's place of abode at the same time the other rooms are rented; and the rooms must NOT be rented via a real estate agent, broker, or online travel company or the exclusion is lost.
• IRC § 280A(g) 'Augusta rule' exclusion: renting the dwelling fewer than 15 days in the taxable year while using it as a residence 14+ days in the taxable year removes the rental from the state accommodations tax and from the Retail License requirement.
• Title 45, Chapter 2 (The Lodging Establishment Act) defines 'lodging establishment' to include a 'residence ... in which rooms, lodging, or sleeping accommodations are furnished to transients for a consideration', so STR operators are subject to innkeeper duties (guest register, grounds for refusal/ejection, posting of rules) — but the chapter imposes no license.
• PENDING BILL — NOT LAW: S. 442 (126th General Assembly, 2025-2026) would define a short-term rental as 'a residential dwelling that is offered for rent for a fee and for fewer than twenty-nine consecutive days', confirm local authority to require registration/permits or ban STRs, require $1,000,000 liability insurance, and require a responsible local representative. Introduced 3/11/2025, referred to Senate Judiciary; last action 3/19/2025 (scrivener's error corrected). Still residing in the Senate — monitor.
• Coastal counties (Horry/Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Beaufort/Hilton Head) and their municipalities carry the substantive STR permit/zoning rules; check the city/county record, not the state record.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

No state STR-specific penalty exists (there is no state STR permit to violate). State enforcement is tax enforcement: under S.C. Code Ann. § 12-54-43(H), a person who must obtain a license and fails to obtain or display it properly, or fails to comply with statutory provisions, is subject to a penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each failure. Unremitted accommodations tax is additionally subject to standard Title 12, Chapter 54 assessment, interest, and failure-to-file/failure-to-pay penalties. Substantive STR fines (permit violations, occupancy, noise) are levied by municipalities/counties under local ordinance, not by the state.

Notes

South Carolina actively enforces STR tax compliance through the Fairness in Lodging Act (Act No. 261 of 2014), which requires SCDOR and municipalities/counties to share information to improve compliance, and directs SCDOR to identify 'rent by owner' vacation-rental websites and request they post a notice telling SC property owners they must be licensed and remit all applicable state and local taxes. SCDOR's Sales & Use Tax Manual Chapter 11 (revised September 2025) also documents a listing-drop notification regime (semiannual notification by July 31 and January 31). Marketplace facilitator collection under § 12-36-1340(5) closes the platform-booked gap; the residual state enforcement exposure falls on hosts who book directly (owner-direct, direct-booking sites) and on local accommodations tax that platforms do not remit.