About the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce

Commerce Center

What is the Myrtle Beach Commerce Center and
why does it show a profit?
The Myrtle Beach Commerce Center is a for-profit corporation which is used to report the chamber's taxable income. The commerce center is owned by the chamber, overseen by the chamber's board of directors, and all financial activity is reported under the chamber's financial umbrella.

Why is this necessary?
The Internal Revenue Service requires nonprofit organizations to recognize unrelated business income taxes (UBIT) on a separate tax return. Any product or service offered by the chamber of commerce that does not fall within the IRS designation of "nonprofit activity" falls can be deemed to be for-profit based upon the UBIT guidelines. This usually includes those products and services that are in direct competition with for-profit entities, such as publishing a vacation guide, selling advertising on a Web site or selling sponsorships for e-mail promotion. UBIT guidelines add a substantial amount of accounting work and often cause tax liabilities, causing some organizations to ignore these guidelines altogether. We choose to adhere strictly to the law and report our UBIT revenues and expenses via a corporation known as the Myrtle Beach Commerce Center.

The Myrtle Beach Commerce Center has no operations, per se, and does not conduct business with any entity other than the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber of commerce board of directors oversee all financial decisions which impact the Myrtle Beach Commerce Center. The Myrtle Beach Commerce Center serves as a financial reporting tool to capture and report taxable revenues and related expenses, using methods designed by our external auditor and tax preparer. Its revenues and expenses are designated based upon IRS guidelines and allocated (for tax reporting purposes only) from the chamber's financial operations. For purposes of financial reporting to our stakeholders, revenues and expenses are combined with all other chamber financial information to ensure full disclosure of revenues and expenses, and accurate reporting per Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and also IRS guidelines.

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