You can order the start-up guide from the STORE button above.
If you're not certain what identification number is associated with your bank account, it's a good idea to ask. We found that when our account was set up years ago, they used the school's tax id # (oops!). I've also heard of PTO's being surprised to find out their account was set up using someone's personal social security number (double oops!). Your treasurer might not remember it, but I can just about guarantee that your new account has an identification number associated with it (husband is a banker), either an EIN or a social security number.
Kentucky might tax the income of non-profit organizations, but the feds don't. A call to the state department of commerce or similar agency, should point you in the right direction. Good luck in your research.
We do have an EIN. I should have added in KY we pay state taxes. I think we have to do something on the state level too. I will have to find that thread because I've asked that question before. Hopefully I printed it out.
We have two banks in our county. The account started out at one bank and we moved it to the other at the begining of the year. I don't think we had to have any kind of number. Our new treauser moved it and she wasn't aware that we had an EIN.
We are not allowed to use the school's ID #. It looks like we are going to be paying taxes on this stuff, right?
Getting an employer identification number (EIN), also called a tax id number, is the first step and the easiest step. Go to the irs website, the forms and publications section, and print a copy of Form SS-4. Fill out the form so you have all the required information at your fingertips, then call teh IRS at the number on the form and they will assign your PTO an EIN over the phone. No cost. No wait.
That gives your group a federal tax identificaiton number that you should use to open your bank account (by the way, who owns your bank account now - is it under the school's tax id number?). Getting an EIN does NOT make your group non-profit or tax exempt, it's just an id. If the Avon rep needs the group to be a registered 501c3 charity, then you might need to run the sale through the school, not the PTO (public schools are automatically 501c3). There's a lot of misinformation about tax exempt status, and some vendors are content to accept the tax id number as "proof" of non-profit status. Though there are some exceptions (see below), most groups have to file form 1023 with the IRS to earn their official tax-exempt 501c3 status.
If your group just started last year, you may be small enough that you aren't required to complete form 1023. If your annual GROSS receipts (all money taken in during the year, regardless of how much profit you actually end up with) is less than $5,000, the IRS doesn't expect you to apply (yet). In that case, you're granted tax exempt status automatically until your group reaches the $5k threshhold.
Now that this is a concern for your PTO, you'll find lots of info in this forum. But the best place to get all the advice in one spot is the PTOToday getting started guide. If your PTO decides to go forward with Form 1023, the guide will walk you through the application step by step, from the specific perspective of a PTO.
I don't mean to be redundant. I will be browsing through all the posts made about tax exemption but in the mean time. HELP!
Our group started last year. They did not begin the process of tax exemption. The treasurer told me she was looking into it. The treasurer lost her postion because she was a staff member that wasn't rehired. Now she has been rehired. I thought the new treasurer was going to continue looking into this, she thought I was. We went no where fast. So I am trying to get the help of the old treasurer and she is supposed to be making phone calls etc and has some papers for me to look at.
Avon sales began yesterday. Principal and chairperson handled all that. I thought they had some sort of agreement. I did not find out until last night that the principal told the lady we had a tax #. Orders are due in by November 28 and we need a tax # by then. What can I do?
Also does anyone have any simple guidelines for applying for a #. I've been to the IRS site several times and get more confused everytime I go.
