Taxes in Myrtle Beach
South Carolina's income tax underwent a real, major restructuring in 2026: Act 110 (H.4216), signed March 30, 2026, replaced the prior three-bracket 0%/3%/6.2% schedule with two brackets -- 1.99% on the first $30,000 of taxable income, 5.21% above that -- while Myrtle Beach layers on a genuinely tourism-driven local sales-tax structure: a 9% minimum combined city sales tax rate and an additional 1.5% hospitality tax on prepared food that together push restaurant-meal tax to 11.5%.
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Learn moreSouth Carolina's Act 110: A Real, Major, Currently Effective Overhaul
Act 110 (H.4216), signed by Governor Henry McMaster on March 30, 2026, restructured South Carolina's income tax code from a three-bracket graduated schedule (0%/3%/6.2%) into two brackets, effective for tax year 2026: 1.99% on the first $30,000 of SC taxable income, and 5.21% on income above that (minus a $966 subtraction), cited as saving SC taxpayers a combined $325 million. This is a real, structural, currently effective change -- not a no-income-tax setup like several Sun Belt states, but a genuinely lower and simpler structure than SC's prior schedule. The law also establishes an automatic future rate-reduction trigger (once individual income tax revenue grows 5%+ year-over-year) intended to move the top rate toward 1.99% and eventually toward elimination over an unspecified future timeline -- a real, enacted mechanism, though not yet realized savings.
Myrtle Beach's Combined Sales Tax and Hospitality Tax Layer
The base South Carolina state sales tax rate is 6%. The minimum combined 2026 rate is 8% for Horry County generally, but 9% specifically within Myrtle Beach city limits. On top of that, Myrtle Beach's own 1.5% local hospitality tax applies to prepared food and beverage sales inside city limits, pushing the total tax on a restaurant meal to 11.5% -- versus 10.5% outside city limits, where a separate Horry County hospitality fee applies instead (2.5% on food/beverage, 3% on transient accommodations, 2.5% on paid admissions/amusements). This is a real, distinctive, tourism-economy-funded local tax layer most residents of non-tourist metros never encounter.
Social Security Is Fully Exempt; Retirement-Income Deductions Are Real but Coordinated
South Carolina fully exempts Social Security income from state income tax at any age. Separately, SC offers a retirement-income deduction (up to $10,000 for filers 65+, up to $3,000 under 65) and a general age-65 deduction of $15,000 against any income -- but these two deductions coordinate rather than stack fully additively, meaning a retiree should not simply add $10,000 and $15,000 together when estimating the total benefit. See the retiring topic page for the fuller picture.
Groceries Are Exempt From State Sales Tax, With Real Local Variance
Unprepared groceries are exempt from South Carolina's 6% state sales tax, a real, meaningful carve-out given how much of Myrtle Beach's local tax structure otherwise targets tourism spending. That said, local counties retain authority to impose their own additional taxes on groceries in some cases, meaning the effective grocery tax rate can vary by jurisdiction -- confirm current local specifics rather than assuming statewide uniformity.
No State Estate or Inheritance Tax
South Carolina does not levy a state estate tax or inheritance tax, consistent with the majority of states -- though residents with sufficiently large estates may still owe the federal estate tax. This detail should be confirmed against current guidance for anyone making estate-planning decisions on this basis.
Key takeaways
- South Carolina's Act 110 (signed March 30, 2026) restructured the state income tax into two brackets for tax year 2026: 1.99% on the first $30,000 of taxable income, 5.21% above -- a real, major, currently effective overhaul, not a no-income-tax setup.
- Myrtle Beach's combined sales tax runs a minimum 9% inside city limits (versus 8% for Horry County generally), plus a distinctive 1.5% city hospitality tax on prepared food that pushes total restaurant-meal tax to 11.5%.
- Social Security is fully exempt from SC state income tax at any age; retirement-income deductions ($10,000 at 65+, $15,000 general age-65 deduction) are real but coordinate rather than stack fully additively.
- Unprepared groceries are exempt from SC's 6% state sales tax, though local counties can add their own grocery-specific taxes in some cases -- confirm current local specifics.
- South Carolina levies no state estate or inheritance tax, though the federal estate tax can still apply to sufficiently large estates.
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