If you are a Teacher, here are Tax Deductions you can Claim without Itemizing
We have all met dedicated teachers - the ones who will do a little extra teaching for few students who lag behind, who will give a ride home to children from poor families whose parents can't get off work to come pick them up, and who, as poorly paid as they are, will use their own money to buy supplies, books or anything else that the school or their pupils need from time to time. Someone in the IRS, perhaps someone who owed a lot to just such a dedicated teacher herself, has thought of a way society can show its appreciation - pain-free tax deductions for teachers - as much as (or, depending on your point of view, as little as) $250.
What makes it particularly easy and meaningful, is that this is a tax deduction that doesn't need itemizing - you claim it on Form 1040. They treat such a tax break as a way for you to underreport your income - a lower income will mean lower taxes. Of course $250 doesn't sound like much; but people are always more encouraged to make use of tax deductions that don't need painful itemizing. No one would ever take advantage of these deductions when the rules at one time needed itemizing everything on Schedule A - not to mention the rider that whatever was listed would have to be at least 2% of a teacher's income if it was to be allowed.
You don't even have to be a teacher to be able to claim this tax break anymore. You just need to be anyone who works in a private or public school system in most kinds of positions, with any kind of class, kindergarten onwards. However, they don't allow homeschooling teachers to claim anything. But what if, say, you and your husband are both teachers, and one of you spent $200 on buying supplies for students, and the other spent $300? Well then, you are probably out of luck; no one gets to claim more than $250 a year, even if they file jointly. The rules are pretty relaxed about what items you can count in these expenses you claim for these tax deductions. They can be any kind of book, stationery, computer hardware, software or services. And of course, they need to see that the items you buy, are regular stuff in any school setting.
Of course there are lots of teachers who spend well in excess of $250 on their classes. You can still put those down on Schedule A, and itemize to claim tax deductions for those. This new rule is just to help you with the itemizing hassle for small sums. For larger sums, you always have the other choices right alongside.