Julie - your PTO can get a tax identification number (also called an EIN, employer identification number) by filling our IRS Form SS-4 from
www.irs.gov. With the form/info in hand, you call the IRS at the number on the form and you'll get an EIN over the phone, no charge.
That's easy. With an EIN, your PTO can now open a bank account that is tied to the group, not to an individual, or to the school. Getting an EIN is just the first step to becoming a federally-registered tax-exempt organization (if that's what your PTO wants to do). Read JHB's post above which addresses tax deductibility.
Melanie is right,the form to apply for federal tax-exempt status (Form 1023) is a whole bunch of pages, and the fee is $500 if your PTO usually grosses over $10,000 per year ($150 otherwise). It's a bit daunting, but not an impossible task. Many, many PTOs successfully apply without the services of a lawyer. Even if you hire a lawyer, you will need to provide the lawyer so much information that only your members/officers have access to, that you're doing most of the hard work anyway. For example, the attorney can't fill out the financial questions unless you can provide the financial data. The IRS is also very helpful clarifying the questions in light of a PTO. And these guys (PTOToday) has a book that walks a PTO tbrough filing the Form 1023. Sorry to digress from the original post...