Educators get tax break for buying school supplies

The Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 has some good news for teachers.

"For the tax years 2002 and 2003, teachers will be allowed to deduct up to $250 for classroom expenses, even if the educator does not itemize deductions," said Gary Garwitz with the Springfield office of BKD LLP.

Until recently, if elementary or secondary school teachers paid for any classroom materials out of their own pockets, the only tax break they got was that they could treat the expenditure as an unreimbursed employee business expense. This type of expense is deductible, but only if the taxpayer itemizes deductions.

Requirements

The taxpayer must be a kindergarten through 12th grade instructor and work at least 900 hours during a school year in an elementary or secondary school.

The school can be public or private.

A deduction can be taken for unreimbursed qualified expenses, which include items such as books, supplies, computer equipment (including software), other equipment and supplementary materials used in the classroom.

Educators must keep receipts for purchases and note date, amount and purpose of the expense.

To be deductible, expenses must be customary and usual for teachers in that type of school in that particular area and must be appropriate or helpful to doing their job.