How to Register a Boat in South Carolina: SCDNR Titles, the Motor Title and Fees
How to register a boat in South Carolina: SCDNR's $20 title and registration, the separate outboard motor title, the $500 tax cap and annual renewals.
9 min readSouth Carolina
Learning how to register a boat in South Carolina means learning a system no other state quite copies: SCDNR titles your boat and — separately — your outboard motor, wants a paid county tax receipt before it transfers a title, and renews your registration every year. South Carolina's 442,000-plus registered boats form the eighth-largest boating fleet in the nation. Our general guide on how to register a boat covers the habits every state shares. Most failures are sequencing failures, so the sections below run in paperwork order.
Who Registers Boats in South Carolina
South Carolina titles both halves of the rig. Under Title 50, Chapter 23, any watercraft or outboard motor held or principally used in the state must be titled by SCDNR (§ 50-23-20). The § 50-23-30 exemptions are narrow: Coast Guard-documented vessels, windsurfers and the like, and watercraft propelled exclusively by human power. Everything else is titled — and every outboard of 5 horsepower or more is titled on its own certificate. Motors under 5 horsepower need no title, and an inboard is never titled separately.
Sailboats have their own settled rule: since June 8, 1989, every sailboat must be titled whatever its length, and any with propulsion — outboard, trolling motor, diesel or inboard — must also be registered; a wind-only sailboat titles and never registers. The clock is statutory: § 50-23-60(A) gives a buyer thirty days from acquisition to apply, and the late fees below punish missing it. A permitted marine dealer completes and submits the application in your name within 30 days of the sale.
How to Register a Boat in South Carolina: The SCDNR Fee Schedule
SCDNR's fee schedule fits on an index card — no length or horsepower tiers; one set of numbers covers jon boat and cruiser alike.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Boat title and registration (first time in SC / previously documented) | $20 |
| In-state change of ownership (boat) | $20 |
| Annual renewal | $10 |
| Watercraft title (unpowered vessels) | $10 |
| Sailboat title without propulsion | $10 |
| Sailboat registration and title with propulsion | $20 |
| New motor title | $10 |
| In-state motor change of ownership | $10 |
| Duplicate or corrected boat title | $5 |
| Casual excise tax | 5% of purchase price, $500 maximum |
Read it as a work order: first-time boat title and registration, $20; in-state change of ownership, $20; annual renewal, $10; unpowered watercraft title, $10; sailboat title without propulsion, $10; sailboat registration and title with propulsion, $20; new motor title, $10; in-state motor change of ownership, $10; duplicates — title, registration card, decal — $5 each; casual excise tax, 5% of the purchase price, capped at $500. The cap is a package rule: boat and motor bought together from one seller top out at $500 combined, not apiece. Immediate family pays none of it: transfers between parent, child, sister, brother, grandparent, grandchild or spouse are exempt — claim it on the form on the back of the application.
Miss the window and the schedule adds its only surcharges: an application — purchase or renewal — not received within 30 days draws $15, applied on the 31st day; not received within 60 days, $30, applied on the 61st. Renewals run on the same ladder from the decal expiration date.
Transferring a South Carolina Title: Taxes First
Buy a boat already titled in South Carolina and the first payment goes not to SCDNR but to your county. Under § 50-23-35, no title may issue for a boat or motor currently titled in this state unless the application carries a county receipt showing ad valorem taxes paid for the year ownership began. SCDNR's walkthrough for buying from an SC owner puts that receipt — in your name, for the coming year, from your county of residence — first in the packet; incomplete paperwork is returned. The exception is a permitted marine dealer sale: the dealer titles without the receipt, and SCDNR sends the county the list for collection.
Behind the receipt, in order: the completed, signed Watercraft/Outboard Motor Application; the original titles, signed — one for the boat, one for each outboard of 5 horsepower or more; and the fees: $20 for the boat, $10 per motor. Where owners are joined by "and," all sign; by "or," any one signs. Original SC titles need no notarization, but an altered title is invalid — a scratched-out or whited-out name takes a signed, notarized bill of sale on the application plus the $5 duplicate title fee to cure. Checks are payable to SCDNR, never cash, mailed to SCDNR, Attn. Titling & Registration, P.O. Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202. First, run the walkthrough's SC Boat Facts check: no property taxes due, no unsatisfied lien on the hull. Our boat title transfer guide covers closing habits that protect buyers anywhere.
Bringing a Boat Into South Carolina From Another State
An out-of-state purchase titles on the home state's evidence: from a titling state, surrender its original signed title. From a non-titling state — § 50-23-55(B)–(C) is written for this case — a bill of sale and proof of registration substitute for the missing title; SCDNR wants it dated, signed by the seller, showing the price, and signed and notarized when it stands in for a title. Add a pencil tracing or clear photograph of the hull number and each motor's serial and model numbers.
Only six states title outboard motors — Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah — so motors from the six surrender one too; from anywhere else there is none. Move-in pricing is fixed: $40 for watercraft title and registration, $10 per motor title. County taxes on an out-of-state purchase are billed after titling; the receipt-first rule bites only on boats previously titled in South Carolina. Buy from an out-of-state dealer and the excise tax swaps to a use tax on the same 5% and $500 terms, from the dealer invoice, with credit for tax paid elsewhere. Hauling the boat in? Line up the move through the transportation providers directory.
Annual Renewals: The Change That Took Effect in 2020
South Carolina is this series' annual-renewal outlier. SCDNR's titling FAQ states it plainly: effective January 1, 2020, registrations renew annually instead of every three years. Since 2021 the $10 renewal fee rides on the county property tax notice, so renewal arrives as a line on the tax bill. The renewal month is the month on your decals — for a newly titled boat, the purchase month: buy in June, renew every June.
Online renewal exists in only two cases — the county has determined the boat tax-exempt, or the taxes were paid but the $10 fee was not paid to the county. Everyone else renews on the county notice; the late ladder runs from the decal expiration date: $15 on the 31st day, $30 on the 61st.
Documented Vessels and Visiting Boaters
A Coast Guard-documented vessel is exempt from South Carolina title and registration — but not from the county, which taxes it as personal property if it determines the boat taxable. The exemption stops at the hull: a documented vessel's outboard of 5 horsepower or more is still titled separately, since § 50-23-30 exempts the documented watercraft while § 50-23-20 titles outboards held in the state, and the scheme's only motor exemption is under 5 horsepower.
Two windows keep boats legal meanwhile. The temporary certificate of number is the bottom-right corner of the application: detach it, carry it with a photocopy of the bill of sale or titles, and it covers up to 60 days from purchase — though SCDNR warns other states may not accept it. A boat registered elsewhere may run here for 60 consecutive days on its home-state registration, decal on the bow and registration card aboard. Past either window, the boat belongs in the South Carolina system.
Selling, Moving and the Trailer Question
The duties run both directions. Selling requires written notice to SCDNR of the status change within 30 days (§ 50-23-20), and § 50-23-55 forbids disposing of a boat or motor without transferring its title, so no sale is legal without a valid title in the seller's name to sign over. An address change is likewise due within 30 days, mailed to SCDNR at P.O. Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202. With titles in order, listing is the easy part: sell your boat and the buyer's county receipt is their only errand.
Trailers sit outside SCDNR's remit: no title or registration is required under 2,500 pounds empty (§ 56-3-130), and titling, where it applies, runs through the DMV.
How to Register a Boat in South Carolina FAQs
How much does it cost to register a boat in South Carolina?
$20 covers boat title and registration together, at first titling or on an in-state transfer. Add $10 per outboard title of 5 horsepower or more, $10 a year to renew, and the casual excise tax — 5% of the price, capped at $500 for a boat and motor bought together. Late filing adds $15 on the 31st day, $30 on the 61st.
Does my outboard motor really need its own title?
Yes — every outboard of 5 horsepower or more held in South Carolina is titled on its own certificate: $10 new, $10 on an in-state transfer, one title per motor. Under 5 horsepower is exempt; an inboard never is. It is the difference out-of-state buyers most often miss.
Can I use my boat while SCDNR processes my application?
Yes — the application's bottom-right corner is a temporary certificate of number, good for 60 days from purchase. Carry it with a photocopy of the bill of sale or titles while SCDNR holds the originals; other states may not accept it.
How long can I boat in South Carolina on another state's registration?
Sixty consecutive days, on a current home-state registration with decal displayed and card aboard. After that: $40 to title and register a watercraft moved in from another state, plus $10 per motor title.
That is the whole of how to register a boat in South Carolina: two titles where most states issue one, a county tax receipt ahead of the transfer, a 5% tax that stops at $500, and a renewal every year, not every third. Do the county errand first, keep the motor's title with the hull's, and the rest is one envelope to Columbia. Then let it earn its keep — pick the hull from the boats for sale at BoatDealsDirect.com, run it on Lake Murray, Lake Hartwell or your home water, and put the paperwork to work.
