I got a call from the IRS today and thought I'd share some more information. Our application is in process, but I'm having to change a few things. The representative was very helpful, so I just need to fax him some corrected pages. However, perhaps I can save someone else from the same error:
1) I didn't look carefully enough at our by-laws and failed to use the same fiscal year on the IRS forms. So I'll need edit the form to match our by-laws (June 1 - May 31)
2) When the IRS required a "signed copy" of its "articles of organization", I prepared a formal copy of the constitution and bylaws with the signature of Board Members on the last page with the date of adoption. We tend to think of it as a package, but I suppose legally the constitution and bylaws are two different things. Well, it turns out that, technically, we signed the By-Laws, but not the constitution, so I have to include a statement certifying that the copy of the constitution I enclosed is the official document and was adopted on such and such date.
3) Our constitution provides that, if the PTO is dissolved, all remaining assets will become property of the school. The IRS needs a second clause stating what will happen to the assets if the SCHOOL no longer exists. They supplied some template language, and we need to send back a signed statement that we will take the appropriate action to amend our constitution to include that provision.
Good luck to any of you going throught the process!
[This message has been edited by JHB (edited 12-04-2000).]
We just finished filing ours about 2 weeks ago. The stated processing time is 120 days, so I don't know that we did it "right".
There are a lot of messages on the Forum regarding this, so you may want to do a search on key words like "1023","501", "IRS".
One versions of the 1023 that you download is a "fill-in" pdf file. So the good news is that you can use your computer to complete it and print it out. The bad news is, that if you have the free version of Adobe Acrobat (like me), you cannot SAVE the file electronically.
Contact me via email (click on the profile) if you want to get into nuts and bolts beyond this forum.
I really encourage you to register on the PTO Today so you have your profile set up and we can start recognizing your entries.
Has anyone recently completed this process? What can you tell me? Would you be willing to share photocopies (e-mails) of your forms so we could have a guideline to follow.
