Question: Tax Questions

Our PTO has its own EIN but has never filed for 501 (c)(3). Do we still have to file a tax return? Also, I am confused about what our fiscal year is. Would it be calendar year or school year? Our SS-4 form filed in 2000 stated "on going" for the question "closing month of accounting year". Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
You set your fiscal year. July 1 to June 30 or Aug 1 to July 31 makes sense for parent groups on a standard school year calendar. You don't have much financial activity in the summer, so that's a good time to reconcile your books. As far as the tax return, the IRS would tell you that you should apply for 501c3 status so you can file form 990, the return for tax-exempt charities. Beyond that, I can only say that the IRS has told us in the past that they're not really set up to process form 990 from organizations that aren't registered 501c3s. I hope that helps.

Community Advice

CMay2CK writes:
Please also remember, even if you are a 501(c)(3), you still need to file every year. Our new President (last year) found out that no one had filed for five years. We ended up with heafty penalties when we would have owed nothing otherwise.