Did you know that all of your hard work has won you the right to deduct $250 from your federal income tax bill for 2009? You do not have to itemize your deductions. You do not have to provide receipts to prove that you spent $250 on your classroom or instructional materials last year. As a full time teacher, I can tell you that I easily put well over $250 of my own money into my classroom every year. I make many small expenditures for books or materials that add up to at least $250 over the course of one school year, all of which go without reimbursement from my school. It comes with the job. You know what the kids need to be successful. If it is not provided by the district or school, the burden falls on you. Luckily, the Internal Revenue Service realizes that teachers spend plenty out of pocket to make their classrooms come alive!
To qualify for the Educator Expenses deduction, you must meet the following requirements.
- You are a kindergarten through grade 12:
a) Teacher,
b) Instructor,
c) Counselor,
d) Principal, or
e) Aide.
2. You work at least 900 hours during a school year in a school that provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under state law.
The following expenses qualify for the $250 Educator Expenses deduction found on Schedule A of Form 1040.
Qualified expenses. These are unreimbursed expenses you paid or incurred for books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), other equipment, and supplementary materials that you use in the classroom. For courses in health and physical education, expenses for supplies are qualified expenses only if they are related to athletics. To be deductible as an adjustment to income, the qualified expenses must be more than the following amounts for the tax year.
- The interest on qualified U.S. savings bonds that you excluded from income because you paid qualified higher education expenses,
- Any distribution from a qualified tuition program that you excluded from income, or
- Any tax-free withdrawals from your Coverdell education savings account.
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