South Carolina imposes a state "Deed Recording Fee" (functionally a real estate transfer tax) under S.C. Code § 12-24-10 et seq., administered by the SC Department of Revenue. The rate is $1.85 per $500 (or fraction thereof) of the property's realty value, split into a state portion of $1.30/$500 and a county portion of $0.55/$500. Example: on a $300,000 sale, the fee is $300,000 ÷ 500 × $1.85 = $1,110. This is a flat, uniform statewide rate — it is not a graduated/bracketed "mansion tax" structure like some other states use. The fee is paid/remitted at recording (electronically via MyDORWAY by the closing attorney or filer) and is generally not something local cities/counties can independently increase — state law effectively sets a uniform statewide rate, with the county share simply being the fixed $0.55/$500 portion that goes to the county general fund rather than an extra local levy. There are statutory exemptions (e.g., transfers with no consideration, certain intra-family or entity transfers, transfers securing a debt, etc.) under § 12-24-40, but the base taxable-transfer rate itself is uniform statewide.
Buyers: roughly 2%-5% of purchase price (commonly cited average around 3.5%), covering loan origination/lender fees, appraisal, title insurance (buyer's policy), attorney fees, prepaid property taxes/insurance/escrow, and recording charges. Sellers: roughly 6%-10% of sale price when real estate agent commissions are included (commission is typically the largest single component, often 5-6% combined for both agents), plus the deed recording fee, owner's title insurance policy, attorney fees, and any negotiated buyer concessions.
Who typically pays: By local custom, the SELLER customarily pays the SC deed recording fee/transfer tax at closing, along with the real estate agent commissions (the largest seller cost) and owner's title insurance. The BUYER customarily pays lender/loan-related fees, the buyer's title insurance policy, appraisal and inspection fees, and prepaid items (property tax escrow, homeowners insurance). South Carolina is an attorney-closing state, so both parties typically also pay a share of attorney/closing fees. All of this is contractually negotiable — the purchase agreement controls, and it's common (especially in buyer's markets) for sellers to agree to pay some buyer closing costs as a concession.
South Carolina does NOT have county- or city-level transfer tax variation in the way some other states do (e.g., no separate "mansion tax" tiers, and no evidence of individual counties like Charleston or Beaufort layering on their own additional deed transfer levy) — the $1.85 per $500 rate (split $1.30 state / $0.55 county) is applied uniformly statewide under S.C. Code § 12-24-10 et seq. One low-quality secondary source vaguely suggested cities/counties "may charge an additional fee on top of the standard rate," but this could not be corroborated against the statute or DOR guidance and likely conflates the transfer fee with unrelated local recording/document fees; treat that specific claim as unverified. The deed recording fee is technically structured as a flat per-$500-increment fee rather than a percentage rate, though it is commonly described in percentage terms (~0.37% of value, i.e., $1.85/$500). Real estate commissions (typically ~5-6% combined, customarily seller-paid) are the dominant driver of the seller's higher total closing-cost percentage versus the buyer's.
Facts on this page reflect research current as of 2026-07-05. Programs, rates, and laws change — confirm current figures with the relevant state agency before relying on them.