South Carolina H 3463: Property tax exemption

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3463 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3463

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 12-37-220, RELATING TO PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT 
CERTAIN SURVIVING SPOUSES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE EXEMPTION.

Be it enacted by the General 
Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 12-37-220(B)(1) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (1)(a) the house owned by an eligible 
owner in fee or jointly with a spouse;

 (b) 
the house owned by a qualified surviving spouse and a house subsequently 
acquired by an eligible surviving spouse. The qualified surviving spouse shall 
inform the Department of Revenue of the address of a subsequent house. For a surviving spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the 
United States who died from a service-connected disability, the surviving 
spouse shall inform the department by filing a certificate with the county 
service officer certifying the veteran's disability or cause of death with the 
department;

 (c) 
when a trustee holds legal title to a dwelling for a beneficiary and the 
beneficiary is a person who qualifies otherwise for the exemptions provided in 
subitems (a) and (b) and the beneficiary uses the dwelling as the beneficiary's 
domicile, the dwelling is exempt from property taxation in the same amount and 
manner as dwellings are exempt pursuant to subitems (a) and (b);

 (d) 
The Department of Revenue may require documentation it determines necessary to 
determine eligibility for the exemption allowed by this item.

 (e) 
A person who owns an interest in a house and meets all other requirements of 
this item and is otherwise an eligible owner but for the ownership requirement 
is deemed to be an eligible owner and is eligible for the exemption allowed by 
this item so long as the county assessor certifies to the Department of Revenue 
that the house is located on heirs' property and the person is the 
owner-occupied resident of the house. A person eligible pursuant to this 
subitem must not claim the special assessment rate allowed pursuant to Section 
12-43-220(c) on any other property. For purposes of this item, heirs' property 
has the same meaning as provided in Section 15-61-320.

 (f) 
As used in this item:

 (i) "eligible owner" means:

 (A) a veteran of the Armed Forces of 
the United States who is permanently and totally disabled as a result of a 
service-connected disability and who files with the Department of Revenue a 
certificate signed by the county service officer certifying this disability;

 (B) a former law enforcement officer 
as further defined in Section 23-23-10, who is permanently and totally disabled 
as a result of a law enforcement service-connected disability;

 (C) a former firefighter, including a 
volunteer firefighter as further defined in Chapter 80, Title 40, who is 
permanently and totally disabled as a result of a firefighting 
service-connected disability;

 (ii) "permanently and totally 
disabled" means the inability to perform substantial gainful employment by 
reason of a medically determinable impairment, either physical or mental, that 
has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of twelve months or 
more or result in death;

 (iii) "qualified surviving spouse" 
means the surviving spouse of an individual described in subsubitem (i) while 
remaining unmarried, who resides in the house, and who owns the house in fee or 
for life. Qualified surviving spouse also means the surviving spouse of an 
individual described in subsubitem (i) whose deceased spouse met the 
requirements to obtain the exemption allowed by this item regardless of whether 
the deceased spouse applied, filed for, or claimed the exemption, while 
remaining unmarried, who resides in the house, and who owns the house in fee or 
for life. Qualified surviving spouse also means the surviving spouse of a 
member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died 
from a service-connected disability or was killed in action, or the 
surviving spouse of a law enforcement officer or firefighter who died in the 
line of duty as a law enforcement officer or firefighter, as these terms are 
further defined in Section 23-23-10 and Chapter 80, Title 40, if the surviving 
spouse remains unmarried, resides in the house, and has acquired ownership of 
the house in fee or for life. For a surviving spouse of a 
member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died from a 
service-connected disability, a determination of a service-connected disability 
qualifies for this exemption even if the determination is made by the United 
States Department of Veterans Affairs after the death of the veteran;

 (iv) "house" means a dwelling and th