Dan Smith is a certified human resource manager who serves on the board of a local professional association of human resource managers. The association outs on an annual conference for its members at which there are educational workshops, keynote speakers, and a display of vendors that serve the needs of human resource managers. This year, the association has decided to allow vendors to advertise in the annual meeting publications for a fee. Mr. Smith is unsure whether the benefits of allowing this advertising outweigh the potential costs if this income is subject to unrelated business income tax. As a result, Mr. Smith has asked your assistance, as an accounting student, in analyzing the costs and benefits of this proposal.
a. Create a list of questions to pose to the executive director of the association about the proposed advertising so that the board has all he relevant facts on hand.
b. What resources are available to investigate whether income from advertising is subject to unrelated business income tax?
c. Prepare a memo to Mr. Smith that outlines the key issues involved in the proposal and suggest an approach to analyzing whether the proposal is in the best interest of the professional association.