Ditto. Your new PTO is a new group as of its incorporation date. Just move the money to the new bank account and move on. We did. No one has come calling. Just do it right from now on.
I like to think I'm an ethical person, but I'm also a realist. No way would I retroactively stir up the past and start questioning taxes owed, not owed for previous years of a PTO informally structured. The officers who ran those programs are likely gone. The intent (hopefully) was the same charitable purpose you now intend. What good would be served?
Focus your efforts on the new organization and move forward with a clean slate.
When I became Treasurer of our PTO last year, I discovered we didn't have 501(c)(3) status. In fact we had no bylaws. The PTO had been using PTA bylaws from before they made the switch to a PTO sometime in the early 1990s. I've been working hard to get things set up properly. I've started a new PTO, incorporated and will file the paper work to get 501(c)(3) status.
My problem is with the old PTO. I've got one accountant telling me we can donate all the money from the old PTO to the new PTO, disband and be done. I've got another telling me that we owe back taxes. We grossed over 25K each year going back as far as I have records. We've got over 20K in the old bank account.
The officers want to do this all legally. I tried calling the IRS non-profit line today to find out how to do that and see if we owe taxes, but the lines were all busy. Just curious if anybody has ever called the IRS to find out how to properly deal with their PTO who never filed for 501(c)(3) status. Do we owe back taxes? If so, how hard is it to get the fines waived? Is this going to be a complete nightmare? Should I just go with the advice to donate the money to the new PTO and be done?
