Aiken County, SC Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

Under Sec. 22-81 of the county code, a uniform 3 percent tax applies to gross proceeds from renting any accommodation in the county, a rate that has run since October 1, 2004. Sec. 22-80 defines a taxable accommodation broadly: any room (excluding meeting or conference rooms), campground space, RV space, or sleeping accommodation furnished to transients by a hotel, inn, condominium, motel, bed and breakfast, residence, or other place for consideration. A stay of 30 continuous days or longer to the same renter is not a taxable transient stay.

5 percent, and the combined county-plus-municipal local accommodations tax rate can never exceed 3 percent. Sec. 22-82 makes the consumer (the guest) liable for the tax, but the lodging provider collects it and must remit a sworn county return, along with a copy of the state sales tax computation form, by the 20th of each month (or the next business day if the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday) to the Aiken County Finance Department at 1930 University Parkway, Suite 3200, Aiken, SC 29801.

Collected funds go into the segregated Aiken County accommodations tax special revenue fund (Sec. 22-83), and Sec. 22-78 restricts county-collected proceeds to tourism-related uses: civic centers, coliseums, aquariums, tourism-related cultural or recreational or historic facilities, land and water access, roads and bridges serving tourist destinations, and water/sewer infrastructure serving tourism demand. No single funded entity other than the county may receive more than 40 percent of a year's accommodations tax collections. Real estate agents, brokers, or listing services handling taxable rentals must notify the county if a previously listed rental property is dropped from their listings (Sec. 22-87).