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South Carolina is blessed with some of the most beautiful waterways in America. But while our rivers, lakes, and coastal areas are beautiful, property taxes on boats are an ugly disaster.
Right now, South Carolina families are paying the highest boat property taxes in the United States — up to three and seven times more than our neighbors in North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. For a $50,000 boat in Richland County – which is not even the highest taxing county in South Carolina – you’ll owe around $2,800 a year in property taxes. Taxes on that same boat in Charlotte, N.C.? $378.
That’s not smart economics. Instead of welcoming more families to our waters and growing our economy, we punish boat owners with a system that’s outdated, unfair, and economically damaging.
Thankfully, there’s a solution: H.3858, led by Representative Gary Brewer (R-Charleston) and backed by over 50 bipartisan sponsors in the House, offers real relief for South Carolina boat owners. The bill, which is also supported by Governor Henry McMaster, recently passed the ways and means committee of the S.C. House of Representatives by a 17–5 bipartisan vote and now heads to the floor of the House.
H. 3858 would do two simple but powerful things:
- Cut boat property taxes by 50%.
- Eliminate the outdated and confusing titling of outboard motors, joining 43 other states that have modernized their systems.
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Imagine buying a car and getting two tax bills — one for the full vehicle, and another just for the engine already counted in the first one. That’s exactly what’s happening to boat owners in some South Carolina counties. They’re being taxed twice on their outboard motors: once in the hull assessment, and again on a separate engine bill.
This malpractice is costing some families more than $1,000 extra per year.
The nation’s highest taxes are forcing nearly 80% of higher-end boat purchases by South Carolinians to be registered out of state, costing South Carolina jobs, revenue, and opportunity. Worse, it’s punishing working class people who work their butts off to buy modest boats to enjoy with their families.
In fighting against tax cuts, some county bureaucrats defend the rip off by calling boats “luxuries.”
Tell that to the grandfather teaching his grandson to fish. Or the young family who bought a pontoon to spend more time together outdoors. Or the high school student trying to compete in fishing tournaments.
We’re taxing their bass boats, pontoons, and skiffs more than Ferraris.
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Boats don’t wear down roads. They don’t require trash pickup. They don’t use the daily services property taxes are supposed to fund. But we tax them as if they were the heaviest users of public services.
This is not a tax system designed to be fair to boaters and anglers. It’s a system designed to protect government budgets. When opponents claim that H.3858 would cause a “detrimental tax shift,” what they are really saying is they are more concerned about government spending than taxpayer fairness.
Even under their worst-case scenarios, H.3858 would affect some county budgets by less than one percent without accounting for natural economic growth, more boats registered locally, and repatriated dollars from those we’ve driven out.
We have a choice.
We can continue driving families, businesses, and economic opportunity across state lines. Or we can join the modern era, cut taxes for working families, end double taxation, and make South Carolina the best place in America to live, work, and enjoy the water.
Passing H.3858 is about more than boating. It’s about fairness. And it’s about fairness to hundreds of thousands of hard-working South Carolinians being ripped off by the system.
The time for action is now. Let’s cut boat taxes. Let’s modernize our laws. Let’s pass H.3858. Because the same boat shouldn’t cost five to seven times more to own just because it’s registered on the South Carolina side of the lake.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Gettys Brannon is the president and CEO of the South Carolina Boating & Fishing Alliance.
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5 comments
This bill is badly needed, but sadly does not go far enough. Property taxes on boats need to either be eliminated, or the rates dropped and all $ taken in from taxes on them diverted and used exclusively for boating and marine related needs….not sent to the school districts and counties general funds. Schools being funded by boat taxes is asinine at face value. What’s the first thing that people get rid of when times get tough? Toys. Yet they are being tapped as a large funding source for a so called “critical need.” Critical needs should be funded in ways that don’t fluctuate, which are paid into by all taxpayers, not by taxing toys that are percieved to only be owned by wealthy people. From a percentage standpoint, the rates are also stupid. Why is a boat (motorized toy) taxed at 10.5%, but a motorcycle or sports car (also a motorized toy) taxed at the same rate as a daily driver car…which is 6%. What is it about this type of motorized recreation that is more deserving of taxation than others? Most importantly…lets just eleminate the taxes beyond sales tax completely. Kayakers and paddle boarders don’t have to pay taxes to use the same water power boaters do. They spend way more time tieing up the boat ramps than powerboaters do, yet get a free pass. Let them pay too, or better yet, treat power boats the same way, and don’t tax them at all either.
I fully believe that if taxes are to be collected on anything it should be in proportion to the impact it has on a particular infrastructure. The public waterways in my county are not funded by the county and neither are the public boat ramps. So, my boat isn’t putting any strain on county resources yet they take an enormous amount of money from me. I would be fine with paying a reasonable registration fee to the state that actually funds DNR resources
Boo fking hoo. The poor rich bitches are having to pay high taxes on their boats. My heart bleeds for them……NOT. Cars and trucks are a necessity. Boats are not. There are too many boats as is. God help you if you get stuck behind a truck pulling a boat along the road. They always seem incapable of doing the speed limit. If they turn, better hope you packed a lunch as it will probably be a while. But hey, “Everyone look at me! I’ve got a boat cause I’m special!”
For even more fun, be stuck somewhere behind one of the boat people at a drive-thru. Rather than park away from the building and walk in to order, they get in the drive thru line and make people have to hang back as they give you a lesson in loutish behavior as they try threading their most prized possession through the narrow drive thru lane.
Why are laws reducing taxes always geared towards making it easier for the rich?
Tell me you can’t afford a boat without telling me. Give me a break. You sound jealous. News Flash, not just the rich have boats.
Rich, poor, or whatever; there are too many clogging up our roads. If I were a multi-millionaire, I would not have one. I have known lots of boat owners who agree with the cliche’ that the two best days in a boat owner’s life; are the day they buy it and the day they get rid of it.
I believe them.