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South Carolina Retirement Income Tax Calculator

South Carolina exempts Social Security and deducts $10,000 of retirement income from 65, under new 1.99% / 5.21% rates.

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South Carolina resident retirement worksheet

Use the year income is received, not the filing year. Later years use a separately approved assessment until the next return rules are verified.

Current 2026 full-year resident ordinary income after state basis and every other approved state modification / deduction, including taxable federal Social Security and railroad subtraction, before only SCIAD and the displayed retirement / military / survivor / age deductions. Start from federal AGI, not federal taxable income. No duplicate federal standard / itemized / enhanced senior / QBI / tips / overtime / car-loan deductions. Approve qualified original-owner retirement without premature penalty, military classification, actual ages, separate survivor attribution and current dependent deductions. Unresolved losses, part-year sources, active-business elections, special distributions and recapture require separate preparation.

SCIAD basic amount / phaseout is $15,000 at federal AGI $40,000 through $95,000 single / separate, $22,500 at $60,000 through $142,500 head, or $30,000 at $80,000 through $190,000 joint / qualifying survivor. Filing status does not itself approve retirement survivor rights or create a second age allowance.

Full actual federal AGI before standard / itemized / enhanced senior or other below-AGI deductions. Do not use the lower prepared South Carolina income or remove exempt state benefits from this federal phaseout input.

After approved other current-year state modifications / deductions and state basis, including exempt federal Social Security / railroad adjustments. Before only the displayed SCIAD, original-owner retirement, military, survivor and age deductions. This can differ from federal AGI due to independently approved state adjustments.

Original-owner qualified retirement allowance is $3,000 through age 64 or $10,000 beginning the year age 65, before your military offset. The separate $15,000 age allowance is also reduced by your own retirement / military deductions.

Original owner’s qualified pension / plan / IRA retirement after basis, not subject to premature-distribution penalty. Exclude military and separately attributed survivor income. Calling an early withdrawal retirement does not qualify it.

This owner’s military retirement is fully deductible, regardless of age, and reduces this owner’s general retirement and age allowances. Exclude survivor-attributed military payments; those rights are independently prepared below.

Approve this owner’s age independently. A spouse with no income can still supply a qualifying age 65 joint allowance against household income.

Separate original-owner amount; unused plan room is not transferred. A younger spouse’s general retirement deduction does not reduce the older spouse’s age allowance.

Fully deductible approved military amount; reduces this owner’s general allowances only.

Distinct taxable non-military / military income attributable to a deceased spouse, kept separate from original-owner fields and anything already removed from prepared income.

Prepare the allowed total for the separate survivor account(s), actual deceased-spouse age had they lived through this December 31, qualified recipient rights, military attribution and any basis / account tracing. Cannot exceed the separate included survivor income. These approved survivor deductions do not reduce the living owner’s general retirement or age allowance. Filing status does not establish this amount.

Prepare allowed credit ordering and limits, including actual 2026 state EITC capped at $200 if eligible. Withholding, payments and refundable amounts remain separate. Blank leaves after-credit tax unknown.

South Carolina · 2026 estimate

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South Carolina 2026 ordinary estimate before credits —
2026 South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction
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SCIAD reduction rounded down to $10
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Your qualified retirement deduction after military offset
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Spouse’s qualified retirement deduction after military offset
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Total approved military retirement deduction
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Approved separate survivor deduction
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Available age 65 deduction after owner offsets
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Modeled age 65 deduction against remaining income
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Modeled nonnegative taxable income
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Estimate after approved nonrefundable credits
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Calculation scopeConfirm resident scope, current-year state modifications and qualified recipient amounts

Illustrative defaults. Enter approved taxable amounts and confirm eligibility. The result covers the displayed worksheet conditions; a complete return may require other income, adjustments, deductions or credits.

Tax year 2026: enacted Act 110, signed March 30, and August 31 Information Letter 26-20 replace the older 2026 estimate PDF’s rates and federal-taxable starting point. SCIAD uses federal AGI, filing status and downward $10 reduction rounding. Continuing retirement offsets verified in Revenue Ruling 22-11 and Code sections 12-6-1170 and 12-6-1171. Cent estimate before credits; final return tables, special taxes and payments separate. Reviewed October 2, 2026.

Reviewed October 2, 2026. South Carolina 2026 retirement tax: new SCIAD and military offsets

What South Carolina taxes in retirement

Partly taxed: limits by age, plan, owner or income apply. Military retirement is covered in the guide. How these labels work.

South Carolina 2026 retirement tax: new SCIAD and military offsets

Estimate South Carolina retirement tax under enacted 2026 rates, the new income-tested SCIAD and separate owner retirement, military and age-65 deductions.

Act 110, signed March 30, 2026, applies to tax years beginning after 2025. It replaces South Carolina’s former three-band schedule with 1.99% below $30,000 taxable income and 5.21% of income minus $966 at $30,000 or above. The August 31 Information Letter 26-20 confirms these rules. The older 2026 SC1040ES PDF still prints the superseded schedule and starts from federal taxable income; its year label does not make those provisions current.

The new South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction, or SCIAD, uses the actual federal filing status and federal adjusted gross income. The full deduction is $15,000 single / separate through $40,000 AGI, $22,500 head through $60,000, or $30,000 joint / qualifying survivor through $80,000. It disappears at $95,000, $142,500 or $190,000, respectively. In between, reduce the base by the statutory fraction and round the reduction down to the next $10. This rounding applies to the reduction, not the remaining deduction. State-exempt benefits do not reduce the separate federal AGI phaseout input.

For 2026, state taxable-income preparation begins with federal AGI rather than federal taxable income. Federal standard and itemized deductions, enhanced senior deduction, tips, overtime, car-loan interest, QBI and non-itemizer charitable deductions do not automatically pass through. Independently prepare other South Carolina additions, exclusions, contribution basis and dependent deductions. Remove the approved federally taxable Social Security and railroad benefits through state adjustments before entering the displayed prepared state income, while preserving them in actual federal AGI where included.

Qualified original-owner retirement generally has a $3,000 limit through age 64 or $10,000 beginning the year age 65. A premature distribution subject to penalty does not automatically qualify. Revenue Ruling 22-11 requires military retirement to be deducted first: that owner’s military deduction reduces their general retirement room, and both amounts reduce their age-65 allowance. Its age-65 example deducts $2,000 military, $8,000 general retirement and $5,000 age-based income, totaling $15,000. It does not stack $10,000 general retirement on top of the military payment and an unreduced age allowance.

Preserve each spouse’s rules. A younger spouse’s $3,000 retirement deduction does not consume an older spouse’s age allowance. A spouse aged 65 with no separate income can still supply a joint age allowance against household income. Large military retirement for one owner does not consume the partner’s general allowance. Survivor-attributed retirement has distinct rights and is traced separately: its approved deduction does not reduce the living owner’s general retirement or age allowance. The deceased spouse’s hypothetical December 31 age, rather than age at death, controls the survivor’s general retirement limit. A filing-status selection alone does not prove survivor qualification.

Worked 2026 joint example: actual federal AGI is $100,000; separately prepared South Carolina income is $85,000. The age-65 owner includes $30,000 qualified non-military retirement and $2,000 military retirement; the age-64 partner includes $10,000 qualified retirement. SCIAD is $24,550 after a $5,450 rounded reduction. Deduct $8,000 and $3,000 general retirement, $2,000 military and $5,000 age-based income to reach $42,450 taxable. The cent estimate is $1,245.65 before credits, or $1,145.65 after an independently approved $100 reduction. If the partner is 65, the owner rules produce $620.45 instead. Final return tables / ordering, allowed credits, survivor tracing, special distributions, losses and part-year sources require their own preparation; future rate-trigger reductions are not assumed.

Prepare these South Carolina records

Official South Carolina source. Actual 2026 Act 110 signed March 30 and Information Letter 26-20 August 31; continuing retirement offsets in RR22-11 / Code 12-6-1170 and 1171; older 2026 estimate schedule superseded.

Calculate the federal portion separately

Use the federal retirement-tax worksheet to prepare federally included benefits and ordinary income. Its federal deduction and rates do not replace the South Carolina rules above.

Compare South Carolina with nearby states

North Carolina and Georgia are South Carolina’s only neighbors. Alabama is one state further away, chosen from those states for the treatment of Social Security, pensions, IRA withdrawals and wages closest to South Carolina’s. Run each one’s worksheet with the same household figures before deciding where a move would leave you.

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Updated / verified · Retirement Income Tax Calculator Editorial Team