SC Senate advances bill to cut boat property taxes ahead of key vote

(WPDE) — Boating groups in South Carolina are celebrating progress on a bill that would significantly cut boat property taxes as it moves through the state Senate ahead of another vote scheduled for tomorrow.

House Bill 3858 would provide a 50% exemption on the fair market value of any watercraft and lower the effective assessment ratio on boats from 10.5% to about 6%.

The bill would also eliminate the need to title all outboard motors separately from boats.

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Gettys Brannon, president and CEO of the South Carolina Boating and Fishing Alliance, said South Carolinians face the highest property taxes on boats in the country, and the proposal is aimed at keeping more boats registered in-state while reducing costs for boat owners.

“When you have a tax rate that’s 10.5%, the highest in the country, what occurs is people actually register their boats out of state. We saw that 80% of boats over $120,000 are registered out of state. So the more expensive boats are not even being taxed here as it currently stands. People will buy them here, and then they’ll register them out of state and take them out of the state for six months out of the year. What we’re pushing for is a lower tax rate to keep those bigger boats, the more expensive boats here, but also decrease the tax burden on the pontoon boat owner, the John boat owner, the bass boat owner that already has their boats here in South Carolina waters,” Brannon said.

The bill was voted through the Senate Finance property tax subcommittee last week and is expected to be presented before the full Senate Finance Committee tomorrow.

If it receives a favorable vote, it would move to the Senate floor.

The bill has already passed the state House.