Author: South Carolina Department of Revenue
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of the South Carolina CPA Report
Whether your clients are individual taxpayers, business taxpayers, or both, the SCDOR has information that impacts you:
Found an issue with your client’s Individual Income Tax return?
The May 1 Individual Income Tax deadline is in the rearview mirror. But no matter how much care you take when filing your client’s Individual Income Tax return, you may later discover an issue. Not all issues require you to file an amended return, however. If you discover an issue after filing a client’s return, here’s what you need to know:
You probably need to file an amended return if…
- Your client needs to correct their income or withholding, a common issue for clients with multiple employers who forget to include the income or withholding from one of their W-2 or 1099 forms.
- Your client claimed the incorrect number of dependents, a common issue for clients who had a child who was born or a family member who came into their care during the tax year.
- Your client is audited by the IRS, or amended their federal return, and the results could change their South Carolina return.
- You discover your client claimed a credit or deduction they should not have (or, perhaps they didn’t claim a credit or deduction they were eligible for).
You do NOT need to file an amended return if…
- Your client received a notice from the SCDOR about their return. Read the notice carefully to learn what steps to take next; don’t just automatically file an amended return.
- Your client’s original return had a simple math error. The SCDOR will usually catch and correct these errors and send your client a notice showing their adjusted refund or tax due amount.
- You left off a supporting document. The SCDOR will send your client a notice requesting information if it is needed need it to process their return.
- Your client didn’t claim payments they made during the year on their original return. The SCDOR will give your client a credit for those payments and issue a notice letting them know what changes were made to their return.
Once you’ve determined you need to file an amended return for your client, remember to amend their federal return first, if the change would impact it. If your client owes a balance because of their amended return, make any payment due to avoid additional penalties and interest. The SCDOR recommends paying electronically at dor.sc.gov/pay.
Take note of Local Sales Tax changes, which went into effect May 1.
If you have business clients located in or make deliveries into the following counties, be aware of the Local Sales Tax rate changes that went into effect May 1.
- Georgetown County added a new Capital Projects Tax, increasing its Sales Tax rate to 7%.
- Horry County added a new Transportation Tax, but its Capital Projects Tax expired. As a result, its Sales Tax rate remains 8%.
- Jasper County added a new Transportation Tax, increasing its Sales Tax rate to 9%.
- Sumter County added a new Capital Projects Tax, increasing its Sales Tax rate to 8%.
- Williamsburg County’s Capital Projects Tax expired, decreasing its Sales Tax rate to 7%.
For more information about all Local Sales Tax changes that went into effect this year, read Information Letter 25-1, available at dor.sc.gov/policy.
These changes will affect monthly filers beginning with the May 2025 Sales & Use Tax return, which is due on June 20, 2025.
As always, the SCDOR recommends filing Sales & Use Tax returns using our free online tax portal, MyDORWAY. All local tax changes are automatically updated when you file your clients’ Sales Tax returns on MyDORWAY. Plus, automatic checkpoints help you avoid submitting an incomplete return.
If you aren’t managing your clients’ accounts on MyDORWAY yet, get started at dor.sc.gov/MyDORWAY.
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