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South Carolina Taxes

JAC

I'm New Here
Can any RV-14 builders in South Carolina give me an idea of the taxes sales or property that will be levied against the aircraft and when they have to be paid. I will be purchasing the QB fuselage and wings this week and presently Van?s does not collect SC taxes.
 
Check with your accountant.

Property tax is payable one you get your airworthiness certificate and is payable to the county where it is based, not the county you live in. Also, it isn't due the year you finish.

I was in Charlotte when I built mine and at the time a couple of guys were building a $250K+ Lancair IV. They found out that NC had a cap on the sales tax for airplanes that was much cheaper than paying as they went. So, they wrote the sales tax check when they finished.
 
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Property tax is payable one you get your airworthiness certificate and is payable to the county where it is based, not the county you live in. Also, it isn't due the year you finish.

This is different from my experience. I kept a plane in a different county for 17 years, but my property tax was based on my county of residence. As Bill says, check with your accountant or just call your county tax office to find out for sure.
 
This is different from my experience. I kept a plane in a different county for 17 years, but my property tax was based on my county of residence. As Bill says, check with your accountant or just call your county tax office to find out for sure.

Same here. Doesn't make sense but that's the way it works here in SC.
 
What if you?re a resident of a different state? One of the contenders for an airport when I finish is Ridgeland (3J1) but I live across the river in the Savannah area. Do you get hit with double taxation?
 
What if you?re a resident of a different state? One of the contenders for an airport when I finish is Ridgeland (3J1) but I live across the river in the Savannah area. Do you get hit with double taxation?

Once Jasper county finds out about your plane, they'll want you to pay. I was there for a couple years with my Cherokee 140 and never paid. I think because I didn't pay any hangar related taxes either.

I live in Bryan county, GA but pay to Liberty county, being based at KLHW. BTW, we may be building new hangars soon.
 
What if you?re a resident of a different state? One of the contenders for an airport when I finish is Ridgeland (3J1) but I live across the river in the Savannah area. Do you get hit with double taxation?

Usually, if you can show you have paid your taxes to one county, the other will drop their claim. However, it wouldn't surprise if the county with the higher tax rate wants you to pay the difference. This is where a tax professional gets involved.

When I lived in North Carolina they were taxing me at the market value for my '41 Tcraft. It wasn't until after I sold it that I found out NC has a cap on property tax for antique airplanes and it was much cheaper than what I was paying.

For those of you who live in SC, do any of you have any political connections? I would like to try and get a bill passed that limits property tax on homebuilt airplanes, boats, cars, and planes for the original builder. I find it crazy that if someone pulls together all their spare change and builds something, they an be taxed out of it. Besides, a builder is more likely to support their local businesses than someone who just writes a check.

If you are interested, please contact me.
 
What if you?re a resident of a different state? One of the contenders for an airport when I finish is Ridgeland (3J1) but I live across the river in the Savannah area. Do you get hit with double taxation?

I was keeping my plane in SC while living in NC for a while and I just had to show proof that I was paying property taxes on it already. Now the plane is in NC in a lower tax rate county than I live in and I pay taxes where it is but have to take the receipt to the county offices where I live to show that I did pay taxes on it.
 
This is different from my experience. I kept a plane in a different county for 17 years, but my property tax was based on my county of residence. As Bill says, check with your accountant or just call your county tax office to find out for sure.
Just goes to show why you need to talk to an accountant. Every county is slightly different.
 
At a minimum, make sure you save your receipts so you can justify / support the actual cost of the finished plane, vs the tax man wanting tax on what they think it is worth.
 
At a minimum, make sure you save your receipts so you can justify / support the actual cost of the finished plane, vs the tax man wanting tax on what they think it is worth.

One thing my county allowed was calculating the value using the cost of the components only (i.e., airframe, engine, prop, avionics), not including any labor costs from construction of the QB components and panel construction. YMMV
 
One thing my county allowed was calculating the value using the cost of the components only (i.e., airframe, engine, prop, avionics), not including any labor costs from construction of the QB components and panel construction. YMMV

That's a good deal. CA charges sales/use taxes on all the parts; but the property tax is the market value of the airplane, based on comparable sales. I had to argue with them to reduce my appraisal because I don't have a fancy interior or paint job.
 
SC Property taxes

Can any RV-14 builders in South Carolina give me an idea of the taxes sales or property that will be levied against the aircraft and when they have to be paid. I will be purchasing the QB fuselage and wings this week and presently Van?s does not collect SC taxes.

I live in Fairfield County and talked to them before I ordered. I owe no taxes until the airplane is registered and ready to fly. They will let me value the airplane as long as my estimate is reasonable. I asked what the taxes would be on an aircraft with a value of 120K and it was around $2800/year.
 
I live in Fairfield County and talked to them before I ordered. I owe no taxes until the airplane is registered and ready to fly. They will let me value the airplane as long as my estimate is reasonable. I asked what the taxes would be on an aircraft with a value of 120K and it was around $2800/year.

Only give them the price of the fuselage kit, prop, and engine. The panel depreciates like a computer.

In my case, it is based on my first engine, which I paid $3500 for and a slow build kit. (They don't know if you have a quick build or a slow build kit.)

When they asked for a picture, I sent them one of it unpainted, which at the time, it was unpainted.

I have also found they depreciate the amount every year, same as a car.
 
That's a good deal. CA charges sales/use taxes on all the parts; but the property tax is the market value of the airplane, based on comparable sales. I had to argue with them to reduce my appraisal because I don't have a fancy interior or paint job.

I bought my RV-12 during the height of the COVID situation last year at a very good price.

Very difficult to even get a flight from Southern CA to Savannah GA at a decent hour.


I've seen the price of RV-12's skyrocket since then, while my plane has gotten a year older and another 100 hours on it, since the time I bought it with 170 hours on it.

Pretty sure CA is going to try to tell me that's not fair market value. Will have to show them the check I gave the seller.
 
Bad news

I've seen the price of RV-12's skyrocket since then, while my plane has gotten a year older and another 100 hours on it, since the time I bought it with 170 hours on it.

Pretty sure CA is going to try to tell me that's not fair market value. Will have to show them the check I gave the seller.

CA appraises property every year, on Jan1, for their fair market value. You get the tax bill in august. If prices ‘have skyrocketed since’ you bought it, showing them the purchase check may not help. But it won’t hurt.
 
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