South Carolina registration and tax info

• South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) – income tax withholding
• South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) – unemployment tax 

You'll receive the below within 24 hours after registering online, or 3 weeks if registering by mail:

• Withholding File Number
• Tax deposit schedule

Keep those time frames in mind when planning your first South Carolina payroll.

Register for income tax

If you have questions while you register, you can call the agency at (803) 898-5000, or email them at "[email protected]"​.

1. Head to the SC Department of Revenue online. 
2. Scroll to the "Applications & Searches" section, and click Business Tax Application.
   • You can reference the agency's help guidance as you go.
3. Scroll to the "Select the type of registration" headline, and complete all remaining prompts.

Enter the tax account information in Gusto

Once a valid South Carolina work address has been added in Gusto for one or more employee(s), you can add your tax account information:

1. Go to the Taxes & compliance section and select Tax setup.
2. Scroll to the "South Carolina Tax Setup" headline and select Manage taxes.
3. Enter your Withholding File Number and tax deposit schedule.
   • If you need to update your account number: Contact us from the Help or Priority support section of your account—there may be tax implications if taxes have already been paid or filed to an incorrect account number.

Running payroll in Gusto before you're liable for state unemployment insurance

Your company becomes liable for state unemployment insurance (SUI) tax once the company has:

• Paid $1500 in wages during a calendar quarter or;
• Had at least one South Carolina employee working for any part of the week, for 20 or more different weeks during a calendar year.

If you need to run payroll and do not yet meet the above requirements, Gusto allows it—we just suggest you add the "New employer SUI tax rate" specific to South Carolina in the meantime.

• You can find the new employer rates for each state in this article, along with instructions on how to update the rate once you become liable and receive your company-specific agency assigned rate.

Register for unemployment tax

You'll receive a six-digit Employer Account Number (EAN), commonly referred to as your State Tax ID, in 2–3 weeks after registering. 

1. Head to the SC Department of Employment and Workforce online. 
2. Click Employers.
3. Scroll to the "I Need To" headline, and under "Register for an Account," click Employers. 
4. Review what you'll need to register, check the box to acknowledge you understand "SECTION 41-41-10", and click Next.
5. Complete all remaining prompts.

Once you've completed registration with the agency, we recommend authorizing Gusto as your third-party agent so we can help troubleshoot any tax issues.

Enter the tax account information in Gusto

Once a valid South Carolina address has been added in Gusto for one or more employee(s), you can add your tax account information:

1. Click the Taxes & compliance section and select Tax setup.
2. Scroll to the "South Carolina Tax Setup" headline and select Manage taxes.
3. Click edit next to the applicable section to enter your unemployment account number and unemployment tax rate*—your account number should be six digits.
   • *Do not enter the Department Administrative Contingency Assessment (DACA) rate of 0.060% in Gusto, we automatically account for this. Subtract DACA from the total unemployment rate listed on your notice to get the rate you should enter. 
     • Most tax rate notices include the following in the total rate:
       • Unemployment Insurance Tax rate;
       • Trust Fund Replenishment rate, and;
       • The 0.60% DACA rate—do not include this in the rate entered in Gusto
         • Enter the sum of the "Unemployment Insurance Tax" rate and the "Trust Fund Replenishment" rate found on the notice (less the DACA rate of 0.60%).
     • Example: A total rate of 0.870% would be entered into Gusto as 0.81%
       • 0.870% - 0.060% = 0.810%.
         
   • If you have a seven-digit account number with a leading zero, omit the zero when entering your number.

You can always update your unemployment rate on your own, but if you need to update your account number, contact us from the Help or Priority support section of your account. There may be tax implications if taxes have already been paid or filed to an incorrect account number.

Owner's wages

If you have owners or partners who are exempt from unemployment insurance liability, their wages need to be excluded from quarterly wage reports to the state. If their wages are not excluded, it could cause the company's entire tax filing to be rejected.

Next steps:

1. Verify which owners are listed as exempt from unemployment insurance liability in your South Carolina State Unemployment Insurance Tax System (SC SUITS)—instructions below.
2. Set up an employee-exemption in Gusto for the tax so we do not report wages in error. 

Checking the company’s owner’s information on file with the state

If you have an online SC SUITS account, follow these instructions to view or update owner information:

1. Sign in to your SC SUITS account using your personal username and password.
2. Under the "Your Options" header, select Account Maintenance.
3. Under the "Employer Account" header, select the Employer Maintenance link.
4. Under the "Other Information" header, select the Ownership Summary tab to review the business owners you have listed with the agency.
5. To add, remove, or modify the owners or their information, click Edit Ownership.

If you've run payroll in South Carolina in the past, you can find your Withholding File Number and tax deposit schedule by:

• Reviewing notices received from the South Carolina DOR, or;
• Calling the agency at (803) 896-1450.

Unemployment account number

Find your Employer Account Number (EAN) by reviewing your Employer Package, Liability Letter, or Employer Quarterly Contribution and Wages Report (Form UCE-120) received from the agency (Department of Employment and Workforce).

Account numbers are typically six digits—if you have a seven-digit number with a leading zero, omit the zero when entering your number in Gusto.

Unemployment tax rate

You can find your unemployment tax rate by:

• Reviewing the “Rate Notice” from the agency, or;
• Calling the agency at (803) 737-3080, or;
• Emailing [email protected].

Owner's wages

If you have owners or partners who are exempt from unemployment insurance liability, their wages need to be excluded from quarterly wage reports to the state. If their wages are not excluded, it could cause the company's entire tax filing to be rejected.

Next steps:

1. Verify which owners are listed as exempt from unemployment insurance liability in your South Carolina State Unemployment Insurance Tax System (SC SUITS)—instructions below.
2. Set up an employee-exemption in Gusto for the tax so we do not report wages in error. 

Checking the company’s owner’s information on file with the state

If you have an online SC SUITS account, follow these instructions to view or update owner information:

1. Sign in to your SC SUITS account using your personal username and password.
2. Under the "Your Options" header, select Account Maintenance.
3. Under the "Employer Account" header, select the Employer Maintenance link.
4. Under the "Other Information" header, select the Ownership Summary tab to review the business owners you have listed with the agency.
5. To add, remove, or modify the owners or their information, click Edit Ownership.

Once a valid South Carolina address has been added in Gusto for one or more employee(s), you can add your tax account information:

1. Click the Taxes & compliance section and select Tax setup.
2. Scroll to the "South Carolina Tax Setup" headline and select Manage taxes.
3. Click edit to enter your Withholding File Number and tax deposit schedule.
   • If you need to update your account number: Contact us from the Help or Priority support section of your account—there may be tax implications if taxes have already been paid or filed to an incorrect account number.
4. Enter your unemployment account number and unemployment tax rate*—your account number should be six digits.
   • *Do not enter the Department Administrative Contingency Assessment (DACA) rate of 0.060% in Gusto, we automatically account for this. Subtract DACA from the total unemployment rate listed on your notice to get the rate you should enter. 
     • Most tax rate notices include the following in the total rate:
       • Unemployment Insurance Tax rate;
       • Trust Fund Replenishment rate, and;
       • .The 0.60% DACA rate—do not include this in the rate entered in Gusto.
         • Enter the sum of the "Unemployment Insurance Tax" rate and the "Trust Fund Replenishment" rate found on the notice (less the DACA rate of 0.60%).
     • Example: A total rate of 0.870% would be entered into Gusto as 0.81%.
       • 0.870% - 0.060% = 0.810%.
   • If you have a seven-digit account number with a leading zero, omit the zero when entering your number.

In order for Gusto to help troubleshoot tax issues, we'll need you to authorize Gusto as your third-party agent (TPA). Gusto will become your TPA for the agency below:

• South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW)  – unemployment tax 

To become your third-party agent, a notarized form authorizing Gusto as your payroll provider must be submitted to the agency—to make this easy, we’ll prepare the necessary document for you to e-sign in Gusto. Then, we’ll submit the form directly to the agency.

Add Gusto as your third-party agent

This form will only populate once you’ve assigned a SC work address to your first SC employee.

1. Have the company signatory sign in to their profile in Gusto.
2. Click the applicable SC to do item from your Home page.
3. E-sign the auto-generated Form UCE-1010 in Gusto—the company signatory must sign this.
   • For general information about the form and it’s instructions, click here. 

We’ll submit this to the agency directly on your behalf—you’re all set for now.