Deerbank Capital Group, a small-business funding service in Conway, South Carolina, explains the hospitality and accommodations tax records Horry County restaurants and lodging businesses keep, how filed returns line up with bank deposits, and why funding partners read them. Rates, rules and due dates belong to each taxing office and are marked for counsel.
At a glance
- Restaurant employers, Horry County, SC
977 at two codes (our sum, CBP 2023)
- Hotel and motel employers
177 (CBP 2023)
- Rates and due dates
Set by each taxing office
Who Files Hospitality and Accommodations Returns in Horry County, SC
Businesses that sell prepared food and drink, and businesses that rent rooms for short stays, file local hospitality and accommodations tax returns with the government that levies each tax. In Horry County that touches a large group of employers: 588 full-service and 389 limited-service restaurants and 177 hotels and motels in 2023 (County Business Patterns), plus short-term rental operators.
SC Hotel Tax Rate: Records Partners Review
A partner does not need to know the rate to read the return. What it reads is the sales figure the business reported, month by month, and whether those figures line up with deposits and the income tax return. Keep every filed return with its confirmation and the payment record.
SC Lodging Tax, Explained for Owners
Lodging tax applies to room rentals, and the business renting the rooms collects and remits it. A motel's accommodations tax returns are a monthly record of room revenue, which a partner funding a renovation or FF&E reads beside occupancy reports. The hotel loans page covers lodging requests in detail.
SC Hotel Tax: Timing Before a Funding Request
File and pay before sending a funding request, not after. A missed or late return shows up when a partner checks, and a notice of unpaid tax is a question that stops a review until it is answered. If a return is late, say so in the request and include proof that it has since been filed.
SC Hospitality Tax Law Before You Apply for Funding
Hospitality taxes are set by local ordinance under state law, and the rules about what is taxable, who files and when belong to each taxing government. Deerbank does not interpret them. Confirm your obligations with the office that levies the tax, or with your accountant, before filing.
SC Hospitality Tax: A Short Checklist
- Which governments levy a tax on your sales, by address.
- Your filing frequency and due dates.
- A monthly calendar reminder for each return.
- Point-of-sale reports that split taxable food and drink sales.
- A folder for filed returns, confirmations and payment records.
SC Accommodations Tax: Paperwork Worth Keeping
- Filed returns for at least the last two years.
- Payment confirmations for each return.
- Point-of-sale summaries that support each month's reported sales.
- Any notices, amendments or correspondence with the taxing office.
These records are the bridge between the bank statements a partner reads and the income tax return it compares them to.
Reconciling a Month of Restaurant Sales With Deposits
Illustration only, invented figures: a Conway, SC restaurant's point-of-sale report shows $58,400 in card sales and $6,200 in cash for a month, $64,600 in total (our arithmetic). Card tips of $4,100 pass through the account to employees in this invented example. In this invented example, the hospitality return reports $64,600; the deposits show $62,500 from the card processor plus the cash deposited. A partner reading both sees the tips as the difference rather than a gap.
Writing down that kind of reconciliation for a few months, before a partner asks, answers the question in advance.
Gift Cards, Catering Deposits and Other Timing Differences
Reported sales and deposits can differ for ordinary reasons: gift cards sold in one month and redeemed in another, catering deposits taken before the event, card batches that settle a day or two after the sale, and refunds. None of these is a problem in itself, but a partner reading the two side by side will ask. A short list of the differences for each month, kept with the returns, answers the question before it is asked.
Keep the point-of-sale settings that decide what is reported as taxable sales consistent from month to month; a change in how sales are categorized shows up as a jump in the returns.
Restaurant and Lodging Requests That Lean on These Records
A dining-room remodel, a motel room refresh or payroll cover through a slow month: each is read with the returns in hand. Working capital fits a payroll gap; a term loan fits a renovation. County figures for every sector are on the Conway, SC page, and every guide is listed on the resources page.
Short-Term Rental Operators in Horry County, SC
Owners renting homes or condos for short stays also collect lodging taxes. For a funding request about a rental business, such as furnishing units, the partner reads the rental platform payouts, the tax returns and the bank deposits together. Real estate purchases themselves are outside Deerbank's options.
By Deerbank Capital Group · Updated
