Phosphates Functional Group
Phosphate $\ce{PO4^3-}$ is an anion of the phosphoric acid $\ce{H3PO4}$. Term phosphate comes from a salt, for instance a sodium phosphate $\ce{Na3PO4}$. $\ce{Na+}$ are bound with a $\ce{PO4^3-}$ through ionic bonds. No electron sharing.
To annotate specific moieties of a molecule skeleton, a chemical group term is used. The phosphate has donated one pair of electrons on the oxygen to have a covalent bond with other molecule, for instance sugar in the image, and becomes a phosphate group in the molecule. Since the electron pair does not sit on the oxygen any more, but is shared with carbon, the phosphate charge is lowered to −2.