Our PTO has been in existence for quite some time. Existence meaning we have meetings, fundraising, give back to the school with programming. We have voted upon bylaws and yearly elections. I know taxes have never been filed. I know that in the past, the DISTRICTS EIN has been distributed to account for tax exemption to donors (not the correct thing to do, I believe).
This year, we took the step to get an EIN number and close our bank account with a PERSONAL SS# tied to it. There has been no other movement or interest in becoming at 501c3.
I wanted to know, what steps actually qualify us as a "Separate Entity" from the school. I know I have read, that if you are tied to the school specifically with setting up a bank account with the schools EIN, the administration basically can take control of your funds if they wanted to. Is the EIN on the bank account the only item that would define you as a "committee of the school". I know that if we were defined as a 501c3 we would absolutely be considered separate, but I am interested in hearing what legally defines you as a separate entity from the school.
