Are PTO membership dues tax deductible for the member? If so, what are the IRS rules/regs. to back this up?

No, I don't think they would normally be deductible. The rules say...

"You cannot deduct as a charitable contribution...The part of a contribution from which you receive or expect to receive a benefit."

You might want to check IRS Publication 526 at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/plain/forms_pubs/pubs/p52603.htm


Also, in pub 529 it says:

"Club Dues
Generally, you cannot deduct the cost of membership in any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation, or other social purpose. This includes business, social, athletic, luncheon, sporting, airline, and hotel clubs. For exceptions, see Dues to Chambers of Commerce and Professional Societies under Unreimbursed Employee Expenses, earlier."

...One more thought (I think this is true -- correct me if I'm wrong, JHB)...under no circumstances could you deduct your dues if your PTO is not a registered 501(c)(3) organization as recognized by the IRS. As you can see from this discussion forum, many PTO's are not. Your prez or treaz should know the answer.

The straightforward answer is "yes" - you must be a 501(c)(3) or other similarly recognized entity to count the donations as personal charitable contributions and therefore as deductible on your income tax." And, that's basically what the IRS says.

However, the lawyer at the PTO Today conference alluded to the fact that, technically, if you were acting as a non-profit and following all the rules there might be interpretations available. The IRS representative sort of politely shrugged, didn't seem to agree, but also didn't want to get into a conflict about it.

The bottom line is, "Yes - that seems to be true for most of us mere mortals". In a certain set of circumstances,with the right legal power behind you, you might be able to come up with a different answer. Nothing seems to be a simple yes or no these days, but for our purposes I would call this one a "yes".

[This message has been edited by JHB (edited 04-11-2001).]