Booster clubs and PTOs in Massachusetts: a treasurer's guide
You volunteered to keep the club's money straight, and the job turned out to involve the IRS, the Attorney General, the Department of Revenue and your town clerk. These guides explain each rule in plain language, with checklists you can print and hand to the next treasurer.
A small Massachusetts booster club or PTO answers to three regulators. The IRS wants an annual 990-series return, usually the short 990-N e-Postcard, and revokes exemption after three missed years. The Attorney General's Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division wants public charities registered and filing Form PC each year, and a Certificate of Solicitation before they ask the public for money. The Department of Revenue decides whether the club's sales are taxable and whether it can buy tax-free with a Form ST-2.
If the club holds a raffle, a fourth office joins in: the clerk of the town where the drawing happens issues the permit and receives a signed financial report after it expires, and the State Lottery Commission collects 5% of the gross proceeds within ten days of each raffle.
Most problems start at a handover. Treasurers rotate as children graduate, and the IRS login, the Charity Portal account and the raffle permit's named members often leave with them. Start with the year-end checklist and compliance calendar, and use the handover checklist whenever officers change.
Understand the rules
How the rules work, federally and in Massachusetts, in plain language.
Does a booster club need to be a 501(c)(3)?
When a Massachusetts booster club or PTO must apply for 501(c)(3) status, how the $5,000 exception works, and what exemption unlocks for sponsors and sales tax.
Read →What is the 990-N e-Postcard? A treasurer's plain-English guide
Who can file the IRS Form 990-N e-Postcard, how the $50,000 “normally” test works for new and older clubs, the eight items it asks, and when it is due.
Read →990-N vs 990-EZ vs 990: which return does your booster club file?
How a booster club or PTO picks between the IRS 990-N, 990-EZ and full Form 990, with the thresholds, due dates, late penalties and the Schedule G raffle trigger.
Read →What counts as “gross receipts” for a booster club?
Gross receipts include every dollar a booster club or PTO takes in before expenses. See why a breakeven snack bar can push you past the 990-N or AG $25,000 line.
Read →Can a booster club credit fundraising to individual students?
Why crediting fundraising to a student's dues or trip cost creates private benefit under IRS guidance, what the Tax Court held, and fair alternatives for clubs.
Read →What is Massachusetts Form PC, and does our PTO have to file?
Who files Massachusetts Form PC with the Attorney General, when it is due, the $25,000 federal-return rule, the fee tiers and the review and audit thresholds.
Read →Does your booster club need a Massachusetts Certificate of Solicitation?
When a booster club or PTO needs a Massachusetts Certificate of Solicitation, the small all-volunteer exemption, the 30-day rule, and renewal through Form PC.
Read →Do booster clubs charge sales tax in Massachusetts?
When Massachusetts booster club and PTO fundraising sales are exempt casual and isolated sales, why you pay tax on goods you resell, and when to register.
Read →Form ST-2 and ST-5: how a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) buys tax-free
How a Massachusetts booster club or PTO gets a Form ST-2 from DOR, uses Form ST-5 at the register, what it covers and what it doesn't, and how long it lasts.
Read →Massachusetts raffle rules for booster clubs and PTOs
Who can hold a raffle in Massachusetts, the two-year rule, the town clerk permit, extra rules above a $10 ticket or $10,000 prize, 50/50 raffles and online sales.
Read →Booster club vs PTO vs PTA: how the money rules differ
How the IRS and Massachusetts filing duties differ for a PTA unit, an independent PTO and a booster club, including group exemptions, 990 filings and Form PC.
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Weigh your options
Comparisons, checklists and the questions that decide which way to go.
Booster club treasurer year-end checklist (Massachusetts)
A year-end checklist for Massachusetts booster club and PTO treasurers: close and reconcile, check 1099s and W-2Gs, then file the 990-series return and Form PC.
Read →Massachusetts Form PC walkthrough: records to gather before you file
What to gather before filing Massachusetts Form PC in the Charity Portal: the fee tiers, which federal return to attach, the review and audit lines, and penalties.
Read →What records do you need for Form 990-EZ or 990 preparation?
The records a booster club, PTO or small nonprofit should gather before its Form 990-EZ or 990 is prepared, including event, raffle and acknowledgment records.
Read →Cash controls for concession stands and fundraisers
A simple cash count procedure for booster club concession stands and fundraisers: two-person counts, count sheets, prompt deposits and payment-app reconciliation.
Read →After the raffle: the 5% lottery tax, clerk report and W-2G prizes
What a Massachusetts booster club or PTO files after a raffle: the 5% State Lottery tax within 10 days, the clerk report, W-2G prizes and records.
Read →Lost your booster club's tax-exempt status? How automatic revocation and reinstatement work
How IRS automatic revocation works after three missed 990 filings, the four reinstatement routes, the 15-month streamlined window, fees and Massachusetts effects.
Read →New treasurer? Updating the IRS, bank and AG when officers change
Who a Massachusetts booster club or PTO notifies when officers change: IRS Form 8822-B, the bank, the AG Charity Portal, the raffle permit clerk and the Secretary.
Read →Booster club budget and monthly treasurer report template
A simple budget and monthly treasurer report layout for booster clubs and PTOs: budget vs actual by program, cash on hand, open items and what the board should ask.
Read →Is your incorporated booster club filing the Massachusetts annual report?
Incorporated Massachusetts booster clubs and PTOs file a Chapter 180 annual report with the Secretary of the Commonwealth by November 1. What it lists and why.
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Get it done
Deadlines, what to gather, and how working with us actually runs.
Booster club and PTO bookkeeping and 990 help near Easton, MA
Bookkeeping, 990-N, 990-EZ and 990 preparation and Form PC preparation for booster clubs and PTOs, from our North Easton office. What we do and what we don't.
Read →Treasurer handover package for booster clubs and PTOs
A treasurer handover checklist for Massachusetts booster clubs and PTOs: books, bank signers, logins, filings, raffle records and the annual compliance calendar.
Read →Nonprofit finance help for small Massachusetts organizations
Bookkeeping, 990-series return preparation and Form PC preparation for small Massachusetts nonprofits, booster clubs and PTOs, with a clear line on audits.
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Quick answers
- What does a Massachusetts booster club have to file each year?
- Usually an IRS 990-series return (most small clubs file the 990-N e-Postcard) and, if it is a public charity, Form PC with the Attorney General. Both are due November 15 for a club with a June 30 year-end. Incorporated clubs also file a c.180 annual report by November 1, and clubs that hold raffles file lottery returns and a clerk report.
- Does our PTO need an audit?
- Almost certainly not. Massachusetts requires statements reviewed or audited by an independent CPA only when gross support and revenue is more than $500,000, and an audit only above $1,000,000. At $500,000 or less, nothing is required. Murphy does not perform reviews or audits; we prepare the records an independent CPA needs.
- Can our booster club hold a raffle?
- If it has been organized and actively functioning as a nonprofit in Massachusetts for at least two years, is an eligible type of organization, and, as a public charity, is current with the Attorney General and holds a Certificate of Solicitation. The permit comes from the clerk of the town where the raffle is drawn.
- What happens if a treasurer forgets to file the 990-N?
- There is no IRS penalty for a late 990-N, so file it as soon as you notice. But an organization that fails to file a required 990-series return for three consecutive years loses its tax-exempt status automatically, and then has to apply for reinstatement. Put the due date on the club's shared calendar.
- Do booster clubs charge sales tax at fundraisers?
- Usually not. Under DOR's regulation, a nonprofit's fundraising sales are exempt casual and isolated sales if it does not sell that type of item in the regular course of business and the money goes to its exempt purpose. The club generally pays sales tax to its suppliers on goods it buys to resell.
Get an answer for your situation, not a general one.
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