South Carolina veteran benefits
- Verified veteran benefits
- 21
- plus 3 general-law and correction records
- Counties covered
- 46
- every one has its own page
- Veterans in this state
- 0.38M
- Rating thresholds that matter
- 0
- each one opens something different
How to use this, in four steps
You are on step 1. Nothing is locked — browse everything first, then check the ones that look relevant.
See what you may be entitled to
Browse every verified benefit in your state. No questions, no account — everything is open.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one. We stop as soon as we know.
Get the letter that shows the finding
A VA Benefit Summary Letter configured to show service connection, the rating and permanence satisfies most offices without disclosing any diagnosis.
File before the deadline
Apply through MyDORWAY with the South Carolina Department of Revenue. There is no fixed deadline, and the exemption can begin with the year the disability occurs.
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick one and we will narrow the list. You can change or clear it at any point.
Two things sharpen this a lot
Both optional. Your county decides where you file and what a property tax exemption is actually worth; your rating decides which thresholds you cross.
Where do you live?
We use this once to work out your county, because property tax is decided county by county. No benefit is ever matched on a ZIP code alone.
Your VA disability status
What does my rating actually unlock?
Read the record for the test that actually applies in South Carolina — total and permanent is the gate, and the exemption now begins in the year the disability occurs.
32 benefits worth checking
What you appear to qualify for — worth checking.
One question checks 27 of them. You can skip it and keep browsing.
Did you serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2 more questions could resolve others. We ask them one at a time.
The Diploma for a South Carolinian Who Enlisted Out of the Classroom
South Carolina issues a state high school diploma to a South Carolinian who ENLISTED WHILE STILL ENROLLED as a student in any South Carolina high school BETWEEN 8 DECEMBER 1941 AND 1 SEPTEMBER 1946, and was honorably discharged. The window opens the day after Pearl Harbor. It is narrower than most states' versions — WWII only, and enlistment while actually enrolled — but within that window it is unambiguous. Given the dates this is now, in practice, a benefit claimed by families on behalf of a veteran.
VeteransApplies statewideA South Carolina state high school diploma
Read it and check if you qualifyTotal Property Tax Exemption — Home, Five Acres, Two Vehicles
A totally and permanently disabled veteran pays no property tax on the home, up to five acres, and up to two private passenger vehicles — from the year the disability occurs.
VeteransApplies statewideThe home, up to five acres of land, and up to two private passenger vehicles — exempt
Read it and check if you qualify"Veteran" on the Credential, No Fee — and Several Ways to Prove It
South Carolina prints a veteran designation on licences, permits and ID cards at NO FEE. What makes this record worth reading is the range of accepted proof: a DD-214, an NGB Form 22 for 20 or more years in the National Guard, a MILITARY RESERVE RETIREMENT LETTER, or a VA Veteran ID Card. And for PRE-1950 DISCHARGES a Certificate of Service is accepted — which matters, because DD-214s did not exist in that form and older veterans are routinely turned away elsewhere for want of one. Honorable or general-under-honorable-conditions discharge qualifies.
VeteransApplies statewideVeteran designation added to a licence, permit or ID at no fee
Read it and check if you qualifyMedal of Honor and Former POW — the Home Comes Off the Tax Roll, No Disability Needed
South Carolina exempts the dwelling home and up to one acre from property tax for Medal of Honor recipients and for former prisoners of war of the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean Conflict or the Vietnam Conflict. IT IS STATUS-BASED, NOT DISABILITY-BASED — the award or the captivity is the whole test, and a former prisoner of war who never filed a VA claim is inside it. The home must be owned in fee, or for life, or jointly with a spouse. Related items of §12-37-220(B) carry private passenger vehicle exemptions too.
VeteransApplies statewideThe dwelling home and up to one acre exempt from property tax
Read it and check if you qualifyIn-State Tuition — and Covered Individuals Wait No Time at All
South Carolina charges resident tuition at its public colleges, universities and technical colleges to active-duty members stationed in the state and their dependants; to discharged members who evidenced intent to establish South Carolina domicile and lived in the state for the 12 months before discharge; and to COVERED INDIVIDUALS using federal education assistance. For that last group there is NO DURATIONAL RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT — you need only live in South Carolina while enrolled. That is the fastest of the three routes and the one people miss.
StudentsApplies statewideResident tuition rates at South Carolina public institutions
Read it and check if you qualifyDrill Pay and Annual Training Are Not South Carolina Income
South Carolina excludes from gross income the compensation a Guard or Reserve member receives for CUSTOMARY ANNUAL TRAINING — up to 15 days for Guard, 14 days plus travel for reservists — for WEEKEND DRILLS, and for INACTIVE DUTY TRAINING. Most states that exempt military pay stop at active duty and leave drill pay taxable, so this is worth checking against what you have actually been filing. Members called to active duty may deduct 15 days of pay as well.
VeteransApplies statewideDrill, annual training and inactive duty training pay excluded from South Carolina income
Read it and check if you qualifyFree State Park Entry at Permanent and Total — and Campsites at Half Price
A South Carolina resident veteran classified by the VA as PERMANENTLY AND TOTALLY DISABLED gets free general facility use at state parks. Campsites, overnight lodging and recreation buildings are excepted from the free use — but the same section puts CAMPSITES AT ONE HALF THE PRESCRIBED FEE, so camping is not excluded, it is discounted. Proof is an identification card issued by the county. The distinction between what is free and what is half price is the thing to know before booking.
VeteransApplies statewideFree general facility use; campsites at half the prescribed fee
Read it and check if you qualifyCDL Skills Test Waived — Check Your MOS, or Count Your Miles
South Carolina waives the CDL skills test for qualifying active-duty and recently separated servicemembers. There are two ways in: a RELEVANT MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY — 88M, 14T, 92F, 2T1 and 3531 among those named — OR 3,000 OR MORE MILES of commercial motor vehicle experience. The mileage route matters, because it reaches drivers whose specialty is not on any list but who did the driving anyway. A separate knowledge-test route exists as well. Certain renewal tests are also waived.
VeteransApplies statewideThe CDL skills test waived, and certain renewal tests
Read it and check if you qualifyPurple Heart, Medal of Honor and POW Plates — Free, With Statewide Metered Parking
South Carolina charges no registration fee for Purple Heart, Medal of Honor and former prisoner of war plates, and NO DISABILITY RATING IS REQUIRED for any of them. Plates ISSUED ON OR AFTER 6 MAY 2022 also carry FREE PARKING IN METERED OR TIMED SPACES STATEWIDE — a benefit worth real money in Charleston or Columbia and one that older plates do not carry, so a holder of a pre-2022 plate should ask about replacing it. Up to THREE PLATES per eligible type, one per vehicle. Application is MAIL-ONLY on an SCDMV form.
VeteransApplies statewideNo registration fee, plus free metered parking statewide on plates issued since May 2022
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Retirement — Deducted in Full
All military retirement income comes out of South Carolina taxable income — no cap, from tax year 2022 — and a surviving spouse deducts the same way, DIC included.
VeteransApplies statewideThe whole of your military retirement income, deducted
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Disability Combination Licence — Three Years, or Lifetime
A free three-year combination licence — hunting, freshwater and saltwater fishing — for any resident disabled and receiving benefits through the VA, Social Security, or four other systems. Not a veteran statute, and no percentage. An applicant who is paraplegic, quadriplegic or legally blind, with a doctor's statement, receives a LIFETIME licence instead.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitA three-year disability combination licence at no cost — lifetime for paraplegic, quadriplegic or legally blind applicants
Read it and check if you qualifyFree Tuition for the Children of War Veterans — Eight Routes In
A child aged 26 or younger of a qualifying war veteran attends any state-supported college, university or technical college free of tuition for an undergraduate degree. Eight parent conditions qualify — including permanent and total disability, the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor for LIVING veterans, alongside the KIA, died-in-service, POW and MIA routes.
VeteransApplies statewideUndergraduate tuition free at any state-supported institution, child aged 26 or younger
Read it and check if you qualifyDisabled Veteran Plates — Registration Fee Exempt, Up to Three
A veteran totally and permanently disabled from a service-connected disability may hold up to three Disabled Veteran plates — including wheelchair-symbol variants — and the plates are exempt from the regular motor vehicle registration fee, with no specialty plate fee on top.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to three plates, exempt from the regular registration fee, no specialty plate fee
Read it and check if you qualifyLicence Fee Exemption, CE Exemption and Military Spouse Temporary Licence
No licence fee for any calendar year in which you serve any period of active military duty, no continuing education while on active duty, a one-year temporary licence for a military spouse posted here, and military training credited toward licensure.
VeteransApplies statewideA fee-free licence year for any year with active duty service
Read it and check if you qualifyMilitary Family Relief Fund — $2,000 Need-Based, $500 on Status, $1,000 on Casualty
Three statutory grants from a state fund for Guard and Reserve members mobilised since 11 September 2001 — a need-based grant capped at $2,000 a fiscal year, a flat $500 status grant, and a flat $1,000 grant where the member was wounded, killed, captured or reported missing.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to $2,000 a fiscal year need-based, $3,000 with a waiver; $500 status; $1,000 casualty
Read it and check if you qualifyThe State Veterans Cemetery — Free for the Veteran, $300 for Family
There is one operating state veterans cemetery: the M.J. "Dolly" Cooper Veterans Cemetery, 140 Inway Drive, Anderson. A qualifying veteran's burial is free — plot, grave liner, marker, and opening and closing. A spouse and each dependent child pay a $300 fee. The agency states there is no residency requirement.
VeteransApplies statewideBurial free for the veteran; $300 for a spouse or each dependent child
Read it and check if you qualifyNational Guard College Assistance — Up to 100% of Tuition, $18,000 Lifetime
Grants of up to one hundred percent of college tuition and fees for a member in good standing of the active National Guard, capped at eighteen thousand dollars in total and one hundred thirty semester hours.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to 100% of tuition and fees, $18,000 lifetime, 130 semester hours
Read it and check if you qualifyVital Records — Furnished Without Charge for a Claim, Through a Service Officer
Verification of the facts in a vital record needed for Veterans Administration purposes in connection with a claim must be furnished without charge — but to the state veterans department or a county veterans affairs officer on request, not directly to the applicant.
VeteransApplies statewideNo charge for the verification needed for a claim
Read it and check if you qualifyPublic Employment Preference — Mirrored From the Federal Preference
Honorably discharged members of the armed forces who are given employment preference by the federal government are to be given preference for appointment and employment in every public department and on all public works in the State, so far as practicable.
VeteransApplies statewidePreference for appointment and employment in public departments and on public works
Read it and check if you qualifyState Procurement — No Veteran or Service-Disabled Bid Preference
The Consolidated Procurement Code builds seven bid preferences at 2%, 4% and 7% — for end products, in-state offices and inventory, manufacturing and labour. None of them is a veteran preference, and the words "veteran" and "service-disabled" do not appear in the chapter.
VeteransApplies statewideNo veteran bid preference exists in the state procurement code
Read it and check if you qualifyBurial Honor Guard Support Fund — Money Behind the Detail at the Graveside
A treasury fund offsets what state chapters of congressionally chartered veterans service organisations spend providing a well-equipped, properly trained honour guard burial detail at a qualifying veteran’s funeral. Disbursements are not less than $50 per funeral, up to a cap set annually.
VeteransApplies statewideAt least $50 per funeral to the organisation providing the honour guard
Read it and check if you qualifyDeployment Cannot Count Against You in a Custody Decision
Under the Uniform Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act a court may not consider a parent’s past or possible future deployment in itself in deciding the best interest of the child. Notice of deployment is due within seven days, and a pre-deployment motion gets an expedited hearing.
VeteransApplies statewideDeployment excluded as a factor, plus notice and expedited hearing rights
Read it and check if you qualifyA Veteran’s Benefit Is Exempt From Attachment, Levy and Sale — No Cap
The debtor’s right to receive, or property traceable to, a veteran’s benefit is exempt from attachment, levy and sale. Unlike several neighbouring exemptions in the same section it carries no dollar ceiling and no "reasonably necessary for support" limit.
VeteransApplies statewideA veteran’s benefit, exempt without a dollar limit
Read it and check if you qualifyEnergy Assistance Pays a Household With a Veteran an Extra $50
The state energy assistance plan builds its benefit from stacked add-ons on a $200 base, and a household with at least one veteran receives an additional $50 toward the total non-emergency energy benefit. The maximum non-emergency heating benefit is $850.
VeteransApplies statewide$50 added to the household’s non-emergency energy benefit
Read it and check if you qualifyNo State Lease-Termination Right on Military Orders
The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act contains no provision allowing a tenant to end a rental agreement on military orders, and the military title’s general provisions chapter contains no state civil relief act. The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is the route.
VeteransApplies statewideNo state termination right — use the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Read it and check if you qualifyVeterans Treatment Court Program — a Right to Apply Where the Circuit Took the Money
Each circuit solicitor may establish a veterans treatment court programme. A solicitor who accepts state funding for one must establish and administer at least one programme in the circuit within 180 days of receiving the funding, and must ensure that all eligible persons are permitted to apply for admission.
VeteransApplies statewideDiversion into treatment instead of prosecution — where the circuit runs a programme
Read it and check if you qualifyCounty Veterans’ Affairs Officer — Accredited, State-Employed, and Inspected
Every county has a veterans’ affairs officer appointed by the state secretary. Since 1 July 2019 they are employees of the state department rather than the county, they must be accredited within a year of appointment and take refresher training yearly, and since May 2025 the department must evaluate each office and report the result in writing to the legislative delegation and county administrator.
VeteransApplies statewideFree accredited help with claims, in every county, from a state employee
Read it and check if you qualifyAgent Orange Information and Assistance — Referral, Claims Help, and a Class Suit for Records
Statute directs the veterans department to refer veterans for treatment of health conditions that may have resulted from exposure to chemical agents, to help them file compensation claims for those disabilities, and to carry their concerns to state and federal officials. It also lets the department ask the Attorney General to represent a class of exposed veterans in a suit for release of exposure information and individual medical records.
VeteransApplies statewideReferral, claims assistance, and a statutory route to a class action for records
Read it and check if you qualifyState Prisoner of War Medal — Two Residency Routes and No Minimum Captivity
The Governor may present a state POW medal to a person officially listed as a prisoner of war by the Department of Defense who was a resident when inducted, or who is a resident now, or was one at death. There is no required period of captivity, and the medal may be awarded posthumously to next of kin.
VeteransApplies statewideA state medal and ribbon, one per person, presented by the Governor
Read it and check if you qualifyState Veterans Homes — Long-Term Nursing Care, and Who Sets the Fee
The veterans department may establish and operate state veterans homes providing long-term nursing care for veterans discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. Since 2025 the department itself sets the admission and discharge criteria and sets and collects the fees, and it may take the assignment of a state or federal benefit as full or partial payment.
VeteransApplies statewideLong-term nursing care at a state home, at a fee the department sets
Read it and check if you qualifyGold Star Family Plate — No Registration Fee, and Free Metered Parking With It
The Gold Star Family plate goes to an immediate family member — spouse, parent, children or siblings. Up to three plates may be issued per award type. They are exempt from the regular motor vehicle registration fee, they run on a two-year cycle, and the vehicle displaying one may park in metered or timed spaces without paying and without being fined.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to three plates, exempt from the regular registration fee, plus free metered and timed parking
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Handicapped Plate Is Free If You Are Also a Disabled Veteran
The handicapped licence plate normally costs the regular motor vehicle licence fee. Subsection (I) removes it: a person who qualifies for the plate and also qualifies as a disabled veteran must be issued it free of charge. The hanging placard is a separate thing — it costs a dollar, needs a physician’s certificate, and only one is issued per person.
VeteransApplies statewideThe handicapped plate at no charge; the placard is $1 and needs a physician
Read it and check if you qualify
Does my county change the answer?
For the statewide records, no — the same law applies in all 46 counties. What changes is the office you file with and the local tax arithmetic, which we do not yet hold for South Carolina.
- Abbeville County
- Aiken County
- Allendale County
- Anderson County
- Bamberg County
- Barnwell County
- Beaufort County
- Berkeley County
- Calhoun County
- Charleston County
- Cherokee County
- Chester County
- Chesterfield County
- Clarendon County
- Colleton County
- Darlington County
- Dillon County
- Dorchester County
- Edgefield County
- Fairfield County
- Florence County
- Georgetown County
- Greenville County
- Greenwood County
- Hampton County
- Horry County
- Jasper County
- Kershaw County
- Lancaster County
- Laurens County
- Lee County
- Lexington County
- McCormick County
- Marion County
- Marlboro County
- Newberry County
- Oconee County
- Orangeburg County
- Pickens County
- Richland County
- Saluda County
- Spartanburg County
- Sumter County
- Union County
- Williamsburg County
- York County
Every benefit here was checked against the statute or rule behind it, and each page shows the date. This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination — the responsible agency decides your application.