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Clarendon County, S.C. — Representative Fawn Pedalino has announced that she has reached out to both the South Carolina Department of Revenue and the Clarendon County Auditor’s Office following the release of a recent Attorney General’s opinion regarding how pickup trucks should be classified for property tax purposes.
The discussion around this issue first arose in Clarendon County last year when several constituents questioned why their personal trucks were being taxed at the higher 10.5% rate. Similar concerns were raised again this year, prompting Representative Pedalino to seek an official legal interpretation.
“In response to these concerns, I contacted the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office to request a formal opinion on how pickup trucks should be classified under state law,” said Pedalino. “The Attorney General’s Office issued Opinion OS-11069 on October 13, 2025, stating that, in their interpretation of the law, a vehicle’s Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) — the manufacturer’s maximum safe load limit — has no bearing on how it should be classified for taxation.”
The opinion further explains that classification should be based on information recorded with the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), specifically the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) and the Empty Weight.
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GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is the manufacturer’s total safe weight limit for a vehicle and does not change regardless of how it is used.
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GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) is the operating weight declared by the owner to the DMV and includes the empty weight plus whatever the owner expects to carry, such as passengers, cargo, or towing.
According to the Attorney General’s interpretation, the GVWR should not be used when determining whether a pickup truck qualifies as a personal motor vehicle (taxed at 6%) or a commercial vehicle (taxed at 10.5%).
Representative Pedalino confirmed that she has reached out to the Clarendon County Auditor’s Office to determine whether they plan to update their practices and refund any tax bills where residents may have been overcharged based on GVWR instead of GVW. She also contacted the South Carolina Department of Revenue to request feedback on the opinion and to learn whether other counties in South Carolina are using the manufacturer’s GVWR in place of the DMV’s GVW.
“At the end of the day, it’s hard to understand why any Auditor would automatically classify all pickup trucks at the higher 10.5% rate when most owners are not operating their vehicles anywhere near the maximum load the manufacturer allows,” Pedalino said. “That seems less like fair taxation and more like a penalty for simply owning a truck.”
Pedalino added that she believes this issue should be immediately corrected and that taxpayers who were overcharged should be reimbursed.
