South Carolina — No 183-Day Rule: Tax Residency Is Domicile

Summary

Test

Domicile only (SC Code § 12-6-30)

Day threshold

None — no minimum time in the state

Leaving

Abandon SC domicile and establish a new one

Resident taxed on

Personal service income wherever earned

Rates from 2026

1.99% and 5.21% (Act No. 110 of 2026)

Authority

SC Department of Revenue (SCDOR)

South Carolina has no 183-day rule: you are a South Carolina resident for income tax if, and only if, South Carolina is your domicile — your true, fixed, permanent home. The statute, SC Code § 12-6-30, defines a resident individual as an individual domiciled in this State, and the Department of Revenue confirms that there is no minimum time you must spend in the state to be presumed a resident. Days in the state neither make you a resident above 183 nor protect you below it; they are evidence of where your home really is.

Who it applies to

This matters most if you are:

• Someone who has moved out of South Carolina but still keeps a home, family, or business ties in the state.
• A South Carolinian working abroad or on a long out-of-state assignment who assumes low days mean no tax.
• A snowbird or seasonal visitor who spends long winters on the coast and worries about a day threshold that South Carolina does not actually have.
• A remote worker splitting the year between South Carolina and another state.

It applies to individuals regardless of citizenship or immigration status — South Carolina residency is about domicile, not nationality or visa.

The rule — and why it exists

• The statute is domicile-only. Under SC Code § 12-6-30, a resident individual is an individual domiciled in this State; a part-year resident is a resident for only part of the tax year; everyone else is a nonresident.
• Domicile comes from case law. The Department of Revenue relies on Phillips v. South Carolina Tax Commission (1940): domicile is the place where a person has a true, fixed and permanent home and principal establishment, to which they intend to return whenever absent. It is decided on intent, shown by both statements and conduct — and when the two conflict, conduct tends to be more telling.
• No day-count presumption. The Domicile Guide states that, unlike states with a rule such as 183 days, South Carolina has no minimum time in the state that triggers a presumption of residency. In the regulations, 117-620 is a heading only; the rule beneath it, 117-620.1, covers foreign domicile.

Why it works this way: a domicile test follows where a person's life is actually anchored. It catches South Carolinians who travel or work away for long stretches without truly leaving, and it leaves alone visitors who spend long seasons in the state while their home stays elsewhere.

Why days still matter

There is no number to stay under, but your calendar is still evidence. Time spent in South Carolina versus your claimed new home is one of the facts the Department of Revenue weighs when it asks whether you really moved, and exact dates fix when a move happened for a part-year return.

1. 1Record the dates you leave and arrive in South Carolina; for a move, the date you changed domicile splits the year into resident and nonresident periods.
2. 2Show that the pattern of your year matches your claimed home — most nights, work and family life in the new state, visits to South Carolina rather than the reverse.
3. 3Keep the records that prove it: travel bookings, card statements, leases, utility bills.
4. 4Remember that no day count, high or low, decides the question on its own — the four domicile points below do.

Bounded shows this rule as a "Domicile test" status and keeps your South Carolina days as that evidence. It asks no questions and gives no "maintained" or "at risk" verdict, because no day count decides South Carolina residency.

Examples

Example 1 — a long winter, still a nonresident

Dana lives in Ohio, where she owns her home, votes and holds her driver's license. She rents a Hilton Head condo every year from mid-October to the end of April and spends about 198 days in South Carolina. There is no day threshold to cross, and spending the winter months in the state does not by itself make her a resident; her domicile stays in Ohio. Any income she earns from work physically done in South Carolina is still South Carolina income.

Example 2 — under 183 days, still a resident

Marcus is domiciled in Greenville — his wife and children live there and his voter and vehicle registrations are there. In 2026 he takes a long overseas contract and spends only about 90 days in South Carolina. Because he never abandoned his Greenville domicile or made a permanent home abroad, South Carolina still treats him as a resident. The low day count does not help him.

Example 3 — a genuine move out

Priya sells her Columbia home, signs a lease in Georgia, moves her family, changes her driver's license and voter registration, and now visits South Carolina for about 40 days a year to see relatives. She has abandoned her South Carolina domicile, established a new permanent home in Georgia and cut her ties — which, not the 40 days, is what makes her a nonresident.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Domicile is sticky. The Department of Revenue treats you as having left only when you have (a) abandoned your South Carolina domicile, (b) actually established a new permanent home elsewhere, (c) severed connections with South Carolina, and (d) moved intending to stay permanently or indefinitely. If no new domicile is established, South Carolina remains your domicile even after years away.
• Working abroad. Under Regulation 117-620.1, you leave the South Carolina tax net for a foreign country only if you have become domiciled there, severed all connections with the state and clearly intend to live abroad permanently. A South Carolinian posted abroad for work stays domiciled in the state unless they become a permanent resident of the foreign country.
• Living on the road. The Department's guide gives the example of a long-haul truck driver who leaves and lives in a tractor-trailer without setting up a fixed, permanent home elsewhere: they remain domiciled in South Carolina.
• Spouses and the military. Spouses are generally presumed to share a domicile, and servicemembers keep their home-state domicile under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act; the Domicile Guide covers both.
• Part-year residents. If you change domicile into or out of South Carolina mid-year, you are a resident only for the part of the year you were domiciled there.
• Source income. Nonresidents still owe South Carolina tax on personal service income earned in the state and on their share of South Carolina business income.

Because domicile turns on intent and a web of facts, a borderline move — especially one that leaves a home, family, or business behind in South Carolina — is the kind of case where a tax professional's read genuinely earns its keep.

Common misconceptions

• "Over 183 days in South Carolina makes me a resident." No — South Carolina has no day-count test or presumption. Residency is domicile.
• "Under 183 days and I'm not a resident." False if South Carolina is still your domicile; a low day count does not end residency.
• "Cutting my days is enough to leave." You have to abandon your South Carolina domicile and establish a new one, with the ties to show for it.
• "Regulation 117-620 sets a 183-day presumption." It does not; it is a heading with no day count, and the Department of Revenue says there is no minimum time.
• "Residents are taxed on worldwide income." Not quite — South Carolina taxes residents on personal service income wherever earned, but not on worldwide non-personal-service business income.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• South Carolina Department of Revenue — A Guide to Determining a Taxpayer's Domicile for Income Tax Purposes
• SC Statehouse — SC Code Title 12, Chapter 6 (§ 12-6-30, resident individual)
• SC Code of Regulations — Chapter 117 (Department of Revenue), incl. 117-620 and 117-620.1
• SCDOR — Information Letter #26-23, 2026 tax legislation update (Act No. 110 of 2026)
• SC Statehouse — H. 3393 (2021–2022), proposed 183-day presumption that died in committee