South Carolina · Sales tax closure
Close a South Carolina retail license.
South Carolina has a rule almost no other state does. If you have not made sales for 24 consecutive months, state law requires you to surrender your Retail License. That applies to a dormant business as much as a closing one, so a license parked just in case eventually has to go.
Last updated:
Who you are dealing with
South Carolina Department of Revenue
- Handles:
- Retail License and sales and use tax account
- System:
- MyDORWAY
- Form:
- MyDORWAY, the More tab, then Close a Tax Account. Or on the final return tick Has the business been permanently closed and enter the closed date
- Phone:
- 844-898-8542
State fee. $0 to close. Tax already owed is unaffected by surrendering the license.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you have to close or cancel
Two triggers, not one. The obvious one is closing or stopping taxable sales. The one people miss is dormancy: 24 consecutive months without sales requires surrender under South Carolina law, regardless of whether you intended to keep the license.
Final returns come first
You are required to file returns through the closing date. The ST-3 is the State Sales and Use Tax Return, due by the 20th of the month following the period, and the ST-389 Schedule of Local Taxes goes with it. Where the liability is under $15,000 the paper return goes to SCDOR at PO Box 100193, Columbia SC 29202 with a balance due, or PO Box 125, Columbia SC 29214-0101 when nothing is due.
How long it takes
South Carolina does not publish a turnaround. MyDORWAY gives an immediate record where the checkbox on a return does not, so that is the route we use where access allows.
What we do
We confirm which accounts are open, file any outstanding final returns, submit each cancellation, and follow up until every agency confirms in writing. You keep the client. We never email them.
What makes South Carolina harder than average
- Twenty four months of no sales forces the issue. South Carolina law requires you to surrender the Retail License after 24 consecutive months without sales. Businesses that pause rather than close, or that hold a license speculatively, hit this without ever deciding to close anything.
- Two mailing addresses depending on whether you owe. Balance due goes to one PO Box, zero due goes to another, and that is for liabilities under $15,000. Sending a zero return to the payment box is a good way to have it sit.
- The local schedule travels with the return. The ST-389 Schedule of Local Taxes accompanies the ST-3. A final filing that omits it is incomplete, and South Carolina's local rates are why the schedule exists.
- The payroll side has its own trap. If you also held withholding, the fourth quarter return is the WH-1606 rather than a WH-1605, and it is required if the account was open for any part of the year. Two South Carolina accounts means two different quirks.
Dissolving the company is not the same as closing the tax accounts
Articles of dissolution leave the withholding, unemployment, and sales tax accounts open, and those agencies keep expecting returns until each one is closed with them. That is the separate filing that stops the notices.
For CPAs and bookkeepers
Send the state, the last payroll or sale date, and the account numbers. The written confirmations come back to you. We do not dissolve the company and we do not take over payroll.
Questions and answers
I have not made sales in two years but I did not close. Do I need to do anything?
Yes. South Carolina law requires you to surrender your Retail License if you have not made sales for 24 consecutive months. Dormancy triggers it even where you never decided to close.
How do I close the account?
In MyDORWAY, open the More tab and select Close a Tax Account. You can also do it on the final return by ticking Has the business been permanently closed and entering the closed date.
Which return is the final one?
The ST-3, the State Sales and Use Tax Return, due by the 20th of the month after the period, with the ST-389 Schedule of Local Taxes alongside it. Returns are required through the closing date.
Does this close my withholding account too?
No. That is a separate closure with its own quirk: if the withholding account was open for any part of the year, the WH-1606 annual return is required rather than a fourth quarter WH-1605.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and South Carolina Retail License number, the date of your last sale, whether the account has been dormant and for how long, and the figures for the final period.
Comparing states? How to close (cancel) a sales tax permit in every state lists the cancellation route and final return rule for all 50 states and DC, with South Carolina anchored.
Also in South Carolina
Agency details verified 2026-08-03
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.