Tax Tips for Teachers

As a teacher, you work pretty hard for your money and deserve to keep as much as you can. On average K-12 teachers spend $400 per school year on supplies for their classroom. The following guide will offer you a few income tax deduction ideas that you may have overlooked in the past, and make this year a happier one for your whole family.

1) Classroom Supplies
If you are like most teachers, you spend your own income on supplies for the classroom. Planning books, classroom banners, party decorations and books are but a few of the many items teachers purchase out of their devotion to provide a quality experience for their students. Keep track of your receipts. They add up.

2) Record Mileage
Do you make special trips to the library or teacher supply store? It's a deduction. While you can't write-off the everyday travel back and forth to school, you can write off those special trips. All that traveling, that has been an expense up to this point, can now add up to big savings. Consider keeping a small day-to-day planner in you car and record you mileage.

3) Conferences and Workshops
Did you attend a conference or workshop this year, and paid for it yourself? Any conference or workshop that contributes to the growth of you as a teacher is tax deductible. Keep your receipt.

4) Association Dues
Did you join a teacher's association with annual dues? It's tax deductible. Any association that contributes to the growth of you as a teacher is a valid deduction.

5) Big Ticket Items
Did you buy a laptop for school use this year? Section 179 of the tax code will allow you to deduct the full cost of certain items that have a useful life of more than one year, in the same year of purchase. Items that at one time had to be depreciated over multiple years can now be deducted in a single tax year. Qualifying items must be personal property, such as big ticket equipment or software. Consult with your tax accountant to see if Section 179 is right for you.

The income tax laws allow you to list these expenses as miscellaneous itemized deductions as long as they do not exceed 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). Your other alternative is to take the standard deduction of $250. The only requirement is that you are a K-12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide that works for at least 900 hours each school year. If you tutor, consider establishing your services as a business on your return. As a tutor, with your intent to make a profit, the 2% limit is lifted.

This is a start. You tax accountant may have more ideas to make this your best tax year yet.