If you are at a public school, give a friendly call to the superintendent, they know the PTO tax status the schools in their district (ie whether a registered non profit corp (501c3), or a tax exempt organization by virtue of being a service arm of the public school or none of the above and a taxable business entity).
Anyway, I am sure the BB veterans here will fill you in on all the nuts and bolts of taxation of PTOs! Stay tuned.

Yes...Our principal while she is fantastic woman she is not on board. She has no clue in regards to anything that occurs with our PTO. While I know PTO is supposed to be Parents, Teachers Organization our should really be PO. Parent organization. It is amazing... The PTO tells her how things are going to run! That seems backwards to me but I think our pricipal is so busy trying to make everyone happy she doesn't see what is going on or perhaps ignorance is bliss? I am bitter thought because it is really sad I no longer want to participate or even help raise money for this PTO. -ccpto

Have you spoken to the Principle and voiced your concerns? Perhaps he/she can give you the answers you are looking for.

Hello all-

I will be totally honest. I am fairly new to our school and thus the PTO. However that said, I have seen somethings that concern me. We recently had a fundraiser and garnered just about 11,000. In a e-mail sent to all the "members" of the PTO they broke down their tenative budget and they state several things of which were legitimate activities withing the school but I was shocked to see that a bulk of the money was going to their supplies and "taxes" 4,000. I didn't think PTO's were taxed? So I asked after doing my homework on this board what their status with the IRS was. That was one month ago and I cannot get anyone to answer me!!! This makes me VERY suspicious. I cannot get anyone to respond to my e-mails and their 'meetings' are held only twice a year. I should also mention there is a 'core' of individuals who have continually been in "office" since the beginning of the PTO's transformation from PTA to PTO. I need to be able to speak intelligently can anyone please advise me as to how to best follow up with this. I am inclined to believe there is some unethical dealings going on here and I either want some piece of mind this is not the case or I want new officers in place 11,000 dollars is alot of money to be 'playing' with! Thanks in advance for your time. Respectfully, ccpto