South Carolina Wage Garnishment Calculator

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South Carolina Wage Garnishment Calculator

Calculate wage garnishment limits under South Carolina law. S.C. Code § 15-39-410, 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677. Estimates only.

Rules encoded (VERIFY): South Carolina largely limits wage garnishment for consumer debts. Under S.C. Code § 15-39-410, the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 weekly) applies. Child support follows CCPA tiers 50/55/60/65%. Federal student loan AWG uses 15%. Federal tax debts up to 25%. Post-judgment interest runs at 8.75% per annum (S.C. Code § 34-26-10).

1. Mode, county and pay date

Stack uses the order boxes in section 3.
Affects the IRS table; South Carolina uses federal $7.25 minimum.
Circuit Court venue.
Federal 30x test runs weekly; scaled by 52 / periods.
Select a county to see the venue note and federal floor figures.

2. Gross pay and legally required withholding

Includes bonuses and commissions.
Voluntary 401(k) excluded.
Take-home only; not in the garnishment base.

3. Order type and amounts

0 applies the statutory maximum.
Reduces the 25% aggregate room.
Shares the 25% ceiling.

4. Balance and payoff

South Carolina post-judgment interest: 8.75% per year (S.C. Code § 34-26-10 – VERIFY).

How it works

  • Disposable = gross minus legally required withholding; voluntary shown separately.
  • Weekly conversion = 52 / periods (1, 2, 2.1667, 4.3333).
  • South Carolina follows federal CCPA limits: lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or excess over 30× $7.25 weekly.
  • Consumer debts = up to 25% of disposable earnings per CCPA.
  • Support = lesser of ordered and CCPA tier 50/55/60/65% of disposable earnings.
  • Federal tax = up to 25% of disposable earnings per CCPA.
  • Student loan AWG = lesser of 15% disposable and above the federal 30x floor.
  • Chapter 13 = the confirmed plan payment, capped at disposable earnings.
  • Stack applies precedence in order.
  • Payoff amortizes at the entered rate and flags non-amortizing or zero-withholding cases.

Sources

  • S.C. Code § 15-39-410 (wage garnishment limits following CCPA): scstatehouse.gov
  • S.C. Code § 34-26-10 (post-judgment interest: 8.75% per year): scstatehouse.gov
  • 15 U.S.C. 1671-1677 (Consumer Credit Protection Act): dol.gov
  • DOL Fact Sheet 30 (wage garnishment protections): dol.gov
  • South Carolina Department of Revenue (dor.sc.gov)
  • IRS Pub 1494 and Form 668-W: irs.gov
  • 20 U.S.C. 1095a, 34 CFR 34.19 (student loan AWG): studentaid.gov

Test cases

TC1 Greenville County, 2026, weekly, consumer debt. Gross $1,000.00; required $200.00; disposable $800.00. 25% cap = $200.00. Withheld $200.00, take-home $600.00.
TC2 Richland County, 2026, weekly, consumer debt. Gross $300.00; required $50.00; disposable $250.00. Floor $217.50 leaves $32.50 reachable; 25% cap is $62.50. Withheld $32.50, take-home $217.50.
TC3 Charleston County, 2026, biweekly, child support. Gross $2,400.00; required $560.00; disposable $1,840.00. With no second family and no arrears, the CCPA tier is 60% = $1,104.00. Withheld $1,104.00, take-home $736.00.
TC4 Horry County, 2026, semimonthly, federal student loan AWG. Gross $2,600.00; required $600.00; disposable $2,000.00. The 15% AWG cap is $300.00. Withheld $300.00, take-home $1,400.00.
TC5 Berkeley County, 2026, monthly, medical debt. Gross $4,000.00; required $1,000.00; disposable $3,000.00. 25% cap = $750.00. Withheld $750.00, take-home $2,250.00.
Estimates only; not legal advice. All figures VERIFY, including the South Carolina wage garnishment limits under S.C. Code § 15-39-410, the CCPA support tiers, the federal student loan 15% cap, and the 8.75% post-judgment interest rate. Not modeled: contested exemption hearings, automatic stays, self-employment income, bonuses, severance, pensions, unemployment or workers compensation. Consult a South Carolina attorney or South Carolina Legal Services. Deploy: replace the block, Update, purge cache, hard refresh; verify document.getElementById(“south-carolina-wage-garnishment-calculator”).getAttribute(“data-js-ready”) returns “true” with no SyntaxError.

What Is a South Carolina Wage Garnishment Calculator?

A South Carolina wage garnishment calculator estimates withholding for one pay period by first finding disposable earnings and then applying the coded limit for the selected order type. Depending on the selection, the result may use a 25% cap, an earnings floor, a support percentage, an IRS exemption estimate, or another order-specific calculation.

The tool can calculate a single order, display a priority waterfall for several entered orders, or estimate how many pay periods a balance may take to satisfy. It also displays gross and disposable earnings, applicable caps, take-home pay, weekly and annual withholding, and the share of disposable earnings withheld.

The calculator labels its figures as estimates and includes VERIFY notices for its legal assumptions. Its output should not be treated as a court ruling, legal advice, or a guarantee of the amount an employer or government agency will actually withhold.

How the South Carolina Wage Garnishment Calculation Works

The calculator first totals the entered federal income tax, South Carolina income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. If that total is greater than gross pay, the code limits required withholding to gross pay.

D=G−min⁡(G,R)D=G-\min(G,R)

Here, D is disposable earnings, G is gross pay for the period, and R is the sum of legally required withholding. Voluntary deductions do not reduce disposable earnings in this calculation. They are used later when the calculator displays take-home pay.

The calculator then converts the selected pay period to a weekly basis. Let p equal annual pay periods: 52 weekly, 26 biweekly, 24 semimonthly, or 12 monthly. The number of weeks represented by one pay period is:

w=52pw=\frac{52}{p}

The code uses a weekly protected figure of 30 × $7.25, which equals $217.50. The amount of disposable earnings above that floor for the selected pay period is:

H=max⁡(0,D−217.50w)H=\max\left(0,D-217.50w\right)

Consumer and Medical Debt

Consumer debt and medical debt use the same code path. The calculator compares the amount above the protected floor with the remaining 25% cap after Other garnishments are deducted.

C=min⁡(H,max⁡(0,0.25D−O))C=\min\left(H,\max(0,0.25D-O)\right)

In this formula, O is the Other garnishments entry. If Amount demanded per period is $0, the calculator uses the full coded cap. If a positive demanded amount is below the cap, it uses that smaller amount. A demand above the cap does not increase withholding beyond the cap.

Child Support and Alimony

Child support and alimony use the same percentage-based branch. The rate is 50% when the second-family box is checked and 60% otherwise. The arrears box adds five percentage points.

Csupport=rDC_{support}=rD

The possible coded rates are therefore 50%, 55%, 60%, and 65%. A positive demanded amount below this ceiling reduces the calculated withholding to the demanded amount.

Federal Student Loan AWG

The federal student loan AWG branch takes the smaller of 15% of disposable earnings and the amount above the encoded federal floor.

Cstudent=min⁡(0.15D,H)C_{student}=\min(0.15D,H)

As with the other single-order calculations, a positive Amount demanded below the calculated cap becomes the withholding amount.

Federal Tax Debt

Federal tax debt uses a different method. The calculator estimates an exempt amount for each pay period and takes disposable earnings above that amount.

Ctax=max⁡(0,D−E)C_{tax}=\max(0,D-E)

If the user enters an Override exempt amount greater than $0, that value becomes E. Otherwise, the code starts with its stored amount for the selected year and filing status, adds $5,300 for each entered dependent and $1,600 for each age-65-or-blind box, then divides the total by annual pay periods.

E=B+5300d+1600apE=\frac{B+5300d+1600a}{p}

Here, B is the calculator's stored base amount, d is the dependent count, and a is the age-65-or-blind count. The tool contains stored values for 2024, 2025, and 2026 and labels this federal tax calculation as an estimate that should be verified.

Chapter 13 Plan

The Chapter 13 branch converts the entered monthly plan payment to the selected payroll frequency. It then limits the result to disposable earnings.

CCh13=min⁡(D,12Mp)C_{Ch13}=\min\left(D,\frac{12M}{p}\right)

Here, M is the monthly plan payment. A positive Amount demanded below that calculated amount can reduce the final withholding.

Payoff Timeline

In payoff mode, the calculated withholding becomes the recurring payment. For an annual interest rate above zero, the calculator first converts the entered percentage to a rate per pay period.

i=APR100pi=\frac{APR}{100p}

If the recurring payment is greater than the interest accruing during one period, the calculator estimates the required number of payments as:

n=⌈−ln⁡(1−BiP)ln⁡(1+i)⌉n=\left\lceil\frac{-\ln\left(1-\frac{Bi}{P}\right)}{\ln(1+i)}\right\rceil

Here, B is the entered balance, P is withholding per period, and n is rounded upward to a whole number of pay periods. If the payment does not exceed one period of interest, the calculator reports that the balance never amortizes. At 0% interest, it uses balance divided by payment and rounds the number of periods upward.

Worked Example

Consider the calculator's weekly consumer-debt example with $300 in gross pay and $50 in required withholding. Disposable earnings are $250. Assume there are no other garnishments and the demanded amount is $0, which tells the calculator to use the full coded limit.

D=300−50=250D=300-50=250

Twenty-five percent of $250 is $62.50. The amount above the $217.50 weekly floor is only $32.50.

C=min⁡(62.50,32.50)=32.50C=\min(62.50,32.50)=32.50

The calculator therefore displays $32.50 withheld for the period. With no voluntary deductions in the example, the resulting take-home amount is $217.50.

How to Use the South Carolina Wage Garnishment Calculator

  1. Choose Single order, Stacking, or Payoff timeline mode.
  2. Select the year wages are payable, a South Carolina county, and your pay frequency.
  3. Enter gross pay and the federal tax, state tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding that applies.
  4. Enter voluntary deductions separately. The calculator uses them for take-home pay, not for disposable earnings.
  5. Select the order type and enter any demanded amount, existing support withholding, and other garnishments.
  6. Complete the extra fields shown for support, federal tax, Chapter 13, or stacking calculations.
  7. For a payoff estimate, enter the balance and annual interest rate.
  8. Check the required acknowledgment and select Calculate.

The main result shows Withheld per pay period. Supporting results include disposable earnings, the 25% amount, earnings above the floor, the order-specific cap, weekly and annual withholding, take-home pay, the percentage of disposable earnings withheld, and a text description of the factor the code identifies as binding.

Understanding the Calculator's Inputs and Results

Pay frequency matters because the federal-floor calculation is based on a weekly figure and then scaled to the selected period. The calculator also uses pay frequency to annualize withholding, convert Chapter 13 monthly payments, calculate federal tax exemptions per period, and estimate payoff time.

The county selection is required, but it does not change the numerical formulas. The code uses the selected county for the displayed Circuit Court venue text. The year selection affects the stored amounts used by the federal tax exemption estimate.

There is an important difference between the displayed Room remaining figure and the consumer-debt cap. The displayed room subtracts both Support already withheld and Other garnishments from 25% of disposable earnings. The consumer and medical calculation itself subtracts only Other garnishments when determining its coded aggregate room.

Stacking mode also has separate behavior. Although the mode label says “five order types,” the implemented stack entry panel and priority waterfall contain four entered categories: support, federal tax, federal student loan AWG, and consumer debt. They are processed in that order.

The support step is limited by its percentage ceiling and remaining disposable earnings. Federal tax is then limited to the amount remaining above the estimated exemption. The student-loan step uses its 15% and floor calculation based on the original disposable earnings, but the code does not separately cap this step to the amount still remaining after earlier stack items. Consumer debt is processed last and is limited by the remaining amount.

In stacking mode, the calculator still displays the normal single-order result based on the selected Order type and Amount demanded fields. It then adds the separate Priority waterfall panel. The code also displays the payoff panel in stacking mode using the total stack withholding as the recurring payment.

Dollar results are formatted with two decimal places. The share of disposable earnings is displayed as a percentage with two decimal places. Take-home pay is calculated as gross pay minus required withholding, voluntary deductions, and garnishment, with negative take-home results displayed as $0.00.

The form rejects gross pay of $0 or less. Most dollar inputs allow values from $0 through $10,000,000. Balance owed allows up to $100,000,000, the annual interest input allows 0% through 40%, dependents allow 0 through 20, and the age-65-or-blind input allows 0 through 2. The acknowledgment checkbox must also be selected before a calculation is shown.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does disposable earnings mean in this calculator?

Disposable earnings are gross pay minus the legally required withholding entered in the calculator. Those entries are federal income tax, South Carolina income tax, Social Security and Medicare, mandatory retirement, and other required withholding. Voluntary deductions such as health deductions, 401(k) contributions, and dues are not subtracted when the code calculates disposable earnings.

What happens if I enter $0 for Amount demanded per period?

A $0 Amount demanded tells the single-order calculation to use the full cap calculated for that order type. A positive amount below the cap reduces withholding to that amount. This behavior is different from the dedicated stacking fields, where a $0 order amount means that stack category contributes no withholding.

Does Support already withheld reduce the consumer-debt calculation?

Not in the implemented consumer-cap formula. The code uses Other garnishments when reducing the 25% room for consumer and medical debt. Support already withheld is subtracted when the calculator displays its separate Room remaining result, so that displayed figure can differ from the cap actually used for the consumer calculation.

How does the calculator estimate a federal tax levy?

It subtracts an exempt amount from disposable earnings. A positive override is used directly. Otherwise, the code estimates the exemption from its stored year and filing-status figure, dependents, age-65-or-blind boxes, and pay frequency. The calculator itself marks this method for verification rather than presenting it as a final IRS determination.

Why can pay frequency change the garnishment result?

The calculator applies its $217.50 protected amount on a weekly basis and scales it to the selected payroll period. A biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly paycheck therefore represents more than one week. Pay frequency also affects Chapter 13 conversions, federal tax exemption calculations, annual totals, and payoff estimates.

What happens if a payoff payment does not cover the interest?

The calculator does not return a normal payoff period count. If one period's payment is less than or equal to the interest that accrues during that period, the code reports that the balance never amortizes at that payment. If withholding is $0, it also does not calculate a normal payoff timeline.

How does the calculator estimate total paid in payoff mode?

With positive interest, the calculator rounds the estimated number of periods upward and multiplies that count by the full recurring payment. Interest paid is then shown as total paid minus the original balance. At 0% interest, total paid is displayed as the balance, and the note identifies the calculated final payment.

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