We are at the beginning of a new school year, and that means everyone, both parents and teachers have spent money on school supplies. Studies have shown that roughly 94% of teachers pay for their own supplies for their classrooms. In addition to the Back to School Sales Tax Holidays that many states have, there is a federal deduction available for teachers who pay for their own classroom supplies out of pocket. The Educator Expense Tax Deduction allows for teachers, instructors, principals and more to deduct expenses for their classroom supplies on their federal income tax returns.
For the upcoming tax season, the maximum educator expense deduction is $300 for filing as a single filer. If you are married and filing jointly, you can deduct up to $600, but each person can only claim $300. There are also a few criteria you need to meet in order to qualify:
- You need to work as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide for students in Kindergarten through 12th
- You need to have worked at least 900 hours at a school certified by a state to provide elementary or secondary education.
- You have spent money on qualified educator expenses that are not reimbursed by your school.
What is a qualified educator expense? For this deduction, qualifying expenses are those that are necessary and ordinary for your job as an educator. An expense does not have to be required to be considered necessary. Expenses also must be paid or incurred during the tax year, and they must be reasonable in amount. Here are a few examples of qualifying expenses:
- Books
- School supplies (pens, pencils, paper, other materials)
- Computer equipment (webcams, headsets, software)
- Athletic equipment for physical education teachers
- Professional development courses related to the curriculum you teach, but keep in mind the $300 deduction limit
Unfortunately expenses for home schooling do not qualify for this deduction, and neither do expenses incurred by educators involved in college education, or post-secondary learning environments.
Be sure you are keeping good records and make sure to hang onto your receipts, this will help make it easier on you at tax time when figuring out how much to claim for this deduction, and then proving it if the IRS has questions. Refer to our previous article about tips for storing tax records for more information.
Contact us: If you are a teacher, or know a teacher who could benefit from this, reach out! Our TFG Accounting and Tax professionals are ready to help sort through if you qualify, and what expenses you will be able to deduct. Call today at 855-542-7537 or email us at CPA@Fuoco.com.
