South Carolina’s All-in-One Payroll Services

State Unemployment Insurance (SUI)

The State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) program provides compensation to eligible workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. The Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) is responsible for SUI for the state of South Carolina.

Employers are only required to contribute toward state unemployment taxes. This amount is not deducted from the employee’s wages.

South Carolina Wage Base:

Unemployment Insurance for South Carolina is calculated based on benefit ratio formula. And it is calculated upto the first $14,000 of each employee earns. Wages that are earned after $14,000 are not taxed under SUI.

Note:The SUI wage base in South Carolina is $14,000 for 2019.

South Carolina Employer Contribution Rate:

Employer’s contribution rates for SUI is determined by Department of Employment Workforce (DEW) each year based on the employer’s history. And these contribution rate ranges from 0.06% to 5.46%.

The employer’s benefit ratio can be found on the Annual Notice of Contribution Rate Form that they received from the DEW by the end of each year.

If you are an new employer then the contribution rate for calculating your SUI is 0.87% for 2019.

Employer Quarterly Wage Report - Form SC UCE 120/101

In South Carolina, employers are required to file the quarterly wage report on or before the last day of the month following the calendar quarter. In other words,

Quarter	Reporting Period	The Due Date will be on
1	January - March	April 30th
2	April - June	July 31st
3	July - September	October 31st
4	October - December	January 31st

State Disability Insurance (SDI)

There is no State Disability Insurance for the state of South Carolina.

State Labor Laws

Minimum Wage Rate:

South Carolina doesn't have a separate state minimum wage rate for salaried, overtime and tipped employees. The state follows the federal Fair Labor Act which has the minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour.

Exceptions:

The minimum wage applies to most employees in South Carolina with limited exceptions including tipped employees, some student workers, and other exempt occupations.

Termination pay:

South Carolina State law requires the employer to pay an employee all wages due within 48 hours of the day of separation OR the next regularly-scheduled payday, not exceeding 30 days.

New Hire Reporting

Employers must report all the newly hired and rehired employees to the South Carolina Department of Social Services within 20 days of hiring the employees.

The information reported on new hire reporting will be used for

• Establishing and enforcing child support orders
• Detecting Unemployment Benefits overpayments and fraud
• Detect Workers' Compensation overpayments and fraud

Employers should report the following data to the Department of Social Services when they hire the new employees to their organizations.

Employer Details:

Employer Name, Address, Federal Identification Number, Phone Number (optional)

Employee Details:

Employee Name, Address, Social Security Number, Date of Birth & Date of Remuneration

Penalties faced by an Employer failing to report newly hired or rehired employees:

• $25 for the second offense and $25 for each offense thereafter; or
• $500 for each and every offense, if the failure to report is the result of a conspiracy between the employer and the employee not to supply the required information or to supply false or incomplete information.

Remit Withholding for Child Support

As an employer, you might be involved in the child support process. Child support withholding is a payroll deduction. You will receive a withholding notice from the state agencies telling you if you are required to make child support deductions from your employee wages. Once you remit the withholding to the state agencies, the amount goes to the custodial parent.

Employers should remit child support payroll withholding to:

Child Support Services,
P.O. Box 1469,
Columbia, SC 29202-1469.

For more information visit the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

Reciprocal States

A reciprocal is an agreement between two states that allows residents of one state to request exemption from tax withholding in the other (reciprocal) state. This can save the employer from trouble of having to file multiple state returns. The following are the reciprocal states of South Carolina.

• Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Local Taxes

• No Local taxes for South Carolina. For additional information visit the state of South Carolina Local Tax Designation

South Carolina State Tax Forms

Required State Forms of South Carolina.

Form WH 1605 - Withholding Quarterly Tax Return

The Form 1605, Withholding Quarterly Tax Return, is used by employers in South Carolina to report state taxes withheld from an employee's paycheck.

If you are an employer/withholding agent (resident and non resident) in South Carolina, you need to file Form 1605 for the first three quarters of the year.

This return must be filed even if no state tax has been withheld during the quarter to prevent a delinquent notice from being mailed.

Form WH 1606 - Withholding Fourth Quarter and Annual Reconciliation Return

You don’t need to file a WH-1605 for the 4th quarter, instead file Form WH-1606.

Form WH-1606 is used to report your 4th quarter withholding and for the annual reconciliation.

You need to file Form WH-1606, even If you have opened your South Carolina withholding account for any portion of the year.

Preparing SC Withholding Quarterly Tax Return WH-1605

Preparing 4th Quarter & Annual Reconciliation Form WH-1606