Minnesota to South Carolina Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes

Updated July 26, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Minnesota to South Carolina in retirement, the top rate on withdrawals falls from 9.85% to 5.21%, and you leave a Minnesota death tax behind. Four separate taxes change when you move — state income tax on withdrawals, state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what probate costs your heirs. Most comparisons only price the first one.

Minnesota vs South Carolina: every tax that changes

Every cell is quoted from our statute-cited 51-jurisdiction dataset. Download the full dataset as CSV.

1. What changes on your annual tax bill

Both states tax retirement withdrawals, so this is a rate change rather than an exemption. Minnesota runs graduated to 9.85% (4 brackets, 5.35%-9.85%) against South Carolina at restructured for TY2026 by H.4216 (signed March 30, 2026): 1.99% on income under $30,000; — a top-rate difference of roughly 4.64 percentage points. On $100,000 of withdrawals that is on the order of $4,640 a year at the top of the schedule, before any exclusion either state allows.

Minnesota: Pensions, 401(k), and IRA distributions generally fully taxable. South Carolina: retirement income deduction of $3,000 a year under 65, rising to $10,000 at 65+; and from the year a resident turns 65 a separate deduction of up to $15,000 against any income. The two do not stack: the $15,000 is reduced by whatever is claimed under the retirement deduction, so $15,000 a person is the ceiling — $30,000 on a joint return when both spouses are 65 (S.C. Code §12-6-1170(A), (B))

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

This is usually the larger number. Minnesota levies an estate tax — yes – $3,000,000 exclusion (unchanged since 2020, not indexed); rates 13%-16%; additional qualified small business / farm property deduction up to $2,000,000 (combined max $5,000,000). Official 2025 Form M706 instructions confirm: ‘For 2025 decedents, the exclusion amount and tax filing threshold is $3,000,000… maximum qualified small business property and farm property deduction amount is $2,000,000’ — and South Carolina levies none (none). Establishing domicile in South Carolina removes that exposure for assets that are not Minnesota real property.

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

Neither state levies an inheritance tax. Minnesota: none South Carolina: none

4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs

Minnesota uses a reasonable-fee fee model (UPC state: reasonable compensation (Minn. Stat. §524.3-719); no percentage schedule.); South Carolina uses a hybrid model (Personal representative commission is statutory (S.C. Code §62-3-719): not to exceed 5% of appraised personal property plus sale proceeds of real property sold by will/court order; minimum $50; plus up to 5% of estate income. Attorney fees are reasonable.). Filing fees — Minnesota: ~$310-$365 to open probate (first-paper district court filing fee plus county law library fee; identical for informal and formal) — Minn. Stat. §357.021 and mncourts.gov fee schedule; certified letters $14 each South Carolina: Statutory sliding scale on gross probate estate (S.C. Code §8-21-770(B)): $25 (<$5k); $45 ($5k-$20k); $67.50 ($20k-$60k); $95 ($60k-$100k); $95 + 0.15% of excess over $100k ($100k-$600k); $845 + 0.25% of excess over $600k ($600k+). Verified.

Full detail: probate cost by state and small-estate limits by state.

Does this actually apply to you?

Below $1,000,000 no US state estate tax applies anywhere — Oregon has the lowest threshold in the country and that is where it starts. So for most estates the whole “escape the death tax” framing is irrelevant, and the only thing that changes when you move is your annual income tax. Here is exactly where the line falls for this pair:

Thresholds are the 2026 figures in our verified dataset and apply to the taxable estate. Federal estate tax is separate and far higher. Test your own number with the comparison tool.

Probate cost in each state, specifically

Minnesota uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. South Carolina uses a hybrid standard — a statutory bound with reasonableness inside it, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. Both states land in the same bucket on that question. Full figures with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the small-estate threshold: Minnesota probate cost and South Carolina probate cost.

Four taxes, two states, one order of operations

Everything above changes together: what Minnesota stops taking on withdrawals, what South Carolina does not take at death, and what probate costs in each. The order you do things in — when you establish domicile, when you convert, when you retitle property — changes the total, and some of it cannot be undone afterwards. If a move is genuinely on the table, here is what to look for in an advisor who knows both Minnesota and South Carolina. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.

Will Minnesota still tax me after I move to South Carolina?

Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and what you leave behind stays in reach.

• Domicile is a test, not a mailing address. A departing state can and does audit residency. Days present, voter registration, driver’s licence, where your doctors and advisers are, and where you keep what you value all count.
• Real property left behind stays taxable. Keeping a home in Minnesota can keep part of the estate within reach of Minnesota rules even after you become a South Carolina resident.
• A Roth conversion is taxed where you live in the year you convert. Sequencing a conversion after establishing the new domicile is often worth more than the annual saving — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.

If you keep a home in Minnesota, what happens at death?

Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. Minnesota levies an estate tax, and it reaches a nonresident decedent’s real property situated there — so a home kept behind after the move stays within Minnesota’s reach even once South Carolina is your legal home for every other purpose. Minnesota gross estate is the federal gross estate excluding property with situs outside Minnesota.

File if Minnesota-situs property is in the federal gross estate AND the federal gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts within three years exceeds $3,000,000. The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: Minnesota disregards pass-through entities for situs, so holding the property through an LLC does not move it out of state. Authority: Minn. Stat. ch. 291; Form M706 instructions.

This is the exposure that survives a move, and it is the one worth pricing before the move rather than after. The house also stays within that state’s probate jurisdiction, so the estate faces a separate ancillary proceeding there on top of the probate where you live — the ancillary probate calculator prices that second proceeding. Confirm the current figures with the state revenue department or a licensed professional before acting — thresholds move, and the arithmetic depends on the whole estate, not just the house.

Full state detail

Every figure above is summarized. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each state: Minnesota retirement taxes and South Carolina retirement taxes. To compare any other pair, start at the retirement tax relocation hub.

Widen the comparison

This page prices one corridor. To see every destination Minnesota retirees consider and every origin state moving to South Carolina, start there instead. For any pair not covered, the retirement tax comparison tool runs all 51 jurisdictions, and the probate cost calculator works out what settling the estate costs in each.

Talking this through

Relocation timing, Roth conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and the order you do them in changes the total. If you want a second opinion, understand what it should cost first — see our advisor cost guide.

Primary sources

• Minn. Stat. § 290.0132 (SS, military, public pension subtractions)
• MN DOR: Social Security Benefit Subtraction
• Qualified Public Pension Subtraction
• Minn. Stat. sec. 291.016
• Minn. Stat. sec. 291.03
• SCDOR: Information about H. 4216
• S.C. Code § 12-6-1170 (retirement deduction)
• S.C. Code § 12-6-1171 (military retirement)
• Minn. Stat. §524.3-719
• Minn. Stat. §524.3-1201
• Minn. Stat. §357.021
• S.C. Code §62-3-719
• S.C. Code §62-3-1201
• S.C. Code §8-21-770

Methodology: every figure is quoted from Clear Money Guide’s statute-cited 51-jurisdiction datasets, compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Nothing here is personalized tax or legal advice. Confirm your own facts with a qualified adviser before you move.