How to fill out South Carolina 452

One form doing two opposite jobs - replacing a plate you have lost, and handing back a plate you no longer need. For a seller it is the second of those, and it is the only step in a South Carolina sale that pays money back: turn the plate in, and the county auditor orders a prorated refund of the property tax for the complete months left in the year.

Written against 452 (12/2024), issued under S.C. Code Ann. 56-3-1260, 56-3-1310 and 12-37-2725. There are two Voluntary Turn In boxes and they are not the same thing. The second reads owner retained plate, which records the registration as ended while the metal stays with you - useful where the plate is going onto your next car rather than into an envelope.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 452 from the dmv.sc.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank 452 — Application to Replace or Surrender Plate, Decal, or Registration PDF at dmv.sc.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual 452, rendered from the PDF the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.

Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below

South Carolina form 452 filled in as a plate turn-in after a sale: Delphine R. Ravenel of 214 Meeting House Rd, Summerville, SC 29483, returning plate KTR 419 from a vehicle with identification number 5FNYF6H52HB412907, with the Vehicle Sold box ticked, a sale date of 12 September 2026 to Curtis N. Ashmore of 3117 Ridgeway Church Rd, Anderson, the receipt box and the plate refund box both ticked, and Section V signed and dated 14 September 2026. — Page 1 of 2. Sections I to V. Vehicle Sold is ticked with its date, buyer and address filled in, and Section III is left alone.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Section I, you and the plate
Your name, phone, residence and mailing addresses, then the plate number and the VIN of the vehicle it came off.
Watch out: The addresses matter more than usual here: the refund is ordered by your county auditor and the treasurer's cheque follows the address on the record.
2
You fill this in
Section II, tick Vehicle Sold
The box with three cells beside it - the date sold, who to, and their address.
Watch out: Those three cells are the same three facts as the Notice of Vehicle Sold. Filling both forms at the same table means the dates cannot disagree.
3
You fill this in
The receipt box
Please check if you wish to obtain a receipt.
Watch out: Tick it. It is the only acknowledgement the SCDMV produces for a plate turn-in, and it is what the county auditor's office asks to see when the refund is queried.
4
You fill this in
The refund box
Please check this box if you are requesting a plate refund.
Watch out: This is the money. Under S.C. Code Ann. 12-37-2725 the auditor orders a credit or refund proportionate to the complete months remaining in the tax year, and an untickd box leaves it unclaimed.
5
You fill this in
Leave Section III alone
The replacement half - decal, plate or registration, and the certification of how it was lost.
Watch out: It carries an attestation that no property tax or registration fee refund has been claimed on the plate. A seller claiming a refund cannot truthfully sign it, which is the clearest sign it is the wrong section.
6
You fill this in
Section V, sign and date
Registered owner's printed name, signature and date, marked required.
Watch out: Section IV above it is for somebody handing the plate in on your behalf, and it is signed by them rather than by you. Both can be completed where somebody else is doing the running.
7
You fill this in
Put the plate in the envelope
The metal goes to Plate Turn-In, PO Box 1498, Blythewood, SC 29016-0024, or across a branch counter with this form.
Watch out: The registration card goes back too - the Code says concurrently. And the insurance comes off last, once the plate is gone, not first.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Section I, name and address of registered owner	Full name and phone number, residence address, mailing address, then the licence plate number and vehicle identification number, with a note that multiple plates go in Section VI. A golf cart permit number has its own cell.
Update voter registration	The two opt-out boxes South Carolina puts on most of its vehicle forms.
Section II, turn in or report	A grid of reasons with a plate-or-golf-cart-permit choice above it: Suspended, Exchanged for Special Plate, Relinquished Special Plate, Found, Moved out of state, Voluntary Turn In, Voluntary Turn In (owner retained plate), Lost, Other with a reason line - and Vehicle Sold with a date cell, a To cell and an Address cell.
The two request boxes	Please check if you wish to obtain a receipt, and please check this box if you are requesting a plate refund.
Section III, I wish to replace	Expiration Year Decal, Plate or Registration, with a required attestation underneath - I attest that I have not requested or received a refund for vehicle property tax or registration fees for this license plate - and a certification of how it was lost: Turned In, Other, Lost, Stolen, Destroyed, Never Received, Defective, Damaged in Mail.
Insurance certification	Required only where a decal or plate is being replaced: a perjury declaration naming the insurance company and promising to maintain liability insurance through the registration period.
Section IV, authorized individual	Where somebody other than the registered owner is making the report - name, street address, city, state, ZIP and a signature.
Section V, certification	Registered owner's printed name, signature and date, marked required.
Section VI, multiple plate turn in	A ten-row table of licence plate number, year and make, and vehicle identification number.

What gets this one rejected

•Section III completed on a turn-in. Replacing and surrendering are different transactions, and the attestation in Section III is that no refund has been claimed - which is the opposite of what a seller is doing.
•Vehicle Sold ticked with no date, buyer or address. The three cells beside the box are the whole of what makes it a sale rather than an abandonment.
•No refund box ticked by a seller who wants the money. The tick is what routes the paperwork to the county auditor.
•An expired plate posted in. The SCDMV's own line is that only active license plates can be returned, and an expired one does not need to be.
•Several plates crammed into Section I. The note points at Section VI, which has ten rows for exactly that.
•Sent without the plate. This form and the metal go in the same envelope to Plate Turn-In at 29016-0024, or across the counter at a branch together.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It travels with the 416. The SCDMV lists the Notice of Vehicle Sold and this form as the first two of four steps after a sale, with the plate itself third and cancelling the insurance fourth.
•Thirty days, from the Code. S.C. Code Ann. 56-3-1260 gives the seller thirty days from the transfer either to apply to move the plate onto another vehicle or to return it - with the registration card going back either way.

Every line here was read off 452 (12/2024) itself — the PDF is here — and off the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all South Carolina seller paperwork, or what selling a car in South Carolina involves.

How to fill out South Carolina 452

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Section I, you and the plate

Section II, tick Vehicle Sold

The receipt box

The refund box

Leave Section III alone

Section V, sign and date

Put the plate in the envelope

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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