Educator Expense Deduction: $300 for 2025, $350 for 2026

The amount by year

The $300 figure is on IRS Tax Topic 458 and in the IRS tax tip for the 2025 school year. The $350 figure comes from Revenue Procedure 2025-32, the IRS document with the inflation adjustments for 2026. The limit is per person: if one spouse is an eligible educator and the other is not, the couple gets one limit, not two. If both qualify and one spent $450 and the other $150 in 2025, the first can only use $300, so together they deduct $450, not $600.

The deduction goes on Schedule 1 of Form 1040 as an adjustment to income. That means it lowers your adjusted gross income and works whether you take the standard deduction or itemize.

Who qualifies

You are an eligible educator if both of these are true for the school year:

• You are a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide.
• You work at least 900 hours a school year in a school that provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under state law.

The test is about the job and the hours, not the subject. A full-time classroom aide qualifies; a college professor does not, because the school must be elementary or secondary. Someone working 700 hours as a part-time aide falls short of the hours test.

What counts and what does not

Qualified expenses are amounts you paid yourself during the tax year and were not paid back for. The IRS list:

The last column needs a word. Topic 458 says qualified expenses are deductible only to the extent they exceed three kinds of tax-free education money: interest on Series EE and I savings bonds you excluded for higher education costs, tax-free distributions from a qualified state tuition (529) program, and tax-free Coverdell withdrawals. If you had any of these, subtract them first.

What the deduction is worth

A deduction saves tax at your top rate, the marginal rate. Multiply the deduction by that rate. The ranges below are the 2026 brackets for a single filer's taxable income from Revenue Procedure 2025-32.

A teacher in the 22 percent bracket who spends at least $350 in 2026 gets $77 back in federal income tax, $11 more than in 2025. The income tax calculator shows your bracket: enter your income once with and once without the deduction and compare the totals.

Spending more than the limit

Say a teacher spends $520 on supplies in 2026 and the school reimburses $100. The unreimbursed amount is $420. Schedule 1 takes $350, which leaves $70 over the limit.

Beginning in 2026, IRS Publication 505 says an eligible educator may claim the Schedule 1 deduction and also an itemized deduction on Schedule A: you take the Schedule 1 amount first and then work out any itemized deduction. The IRS adds that the type of expenses that qualify for each is slightly different, so read the Schedule A instructions for 2026 before counting on it. It only helps if you itemize.

Three everyday cases

• Supplies bought with a school purchasing card. The school paid, not you, so nothing is deductible. Only money that left your own pocket counts.
• A summer course for a teaching endorsement. Professional development course fees are on the IRS list, so the fee counts toward the limit for the year you paid it.
• A school counselor who buys books for a reading group. Counselors, principals and aides are eligible educators on the same terms as teachers, so the books count if the 900-hour test is met.

The deduction is filed with Form 1040, 1040-SR or 1040-NR by attaching Schedule 1.

Records to keep

The Taxpayer Advocate Service advises keeping receipts and good records of classroom expenses throughout the year. In practice that means:

• Receipts or card statements showing the date, the store and what you bought.
• A short note on each item tying it to your classroom or a course.
• Proof of any reimbursement, so you can show you subtracted it.
• For professional development, the course invoice and proof of payment.
• Your hours or contract for the school year, in case the 900-hour test is questioned.

Keep them with that year's return. How long to keep tax records explains the IRS periods. A simple spreadsheet with one row per purchase, updated monthly, saves an evening of searching in April.

Checklist before you claim it

• You worked K-12 as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide for at least 900 hours.
• You add up only what you paid and were not reimbursed for.
• Health and physical education supplies are athletic supplies.
• You subtract any excluded savings bond interest or tax-free 529 or Coverdell money used for the same costs.
• You cap the total at $300 for 2025 or $350 for 2026 per educator.
• You enter it on Schedule 1, and for 2026, check whether any excess fits on Schedule A if you itemize.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• IRS Tax Topic 458: Educator expense deduction (up to $300, $600 for two eligible spouses but not more than $300 each, K-12 and 900 hours, qualified expenses, reductions for savings bond interest, 529 and Coverdell amounts and unreported reimbursements, Schedule 1)
• IRS Tax Tip 2025-58: Out-of-pocket classroom costs could be offset with the Educator Expense Deduction (up to $300 of unreimbursed expenses, $600 for two married educators, qualified expenses)
• IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 3.12: the 2026 educator expense amount of $350 and the exclusion of nonathletic supplies for health or physical education; section 4.01: 2026 tax rate tables (PDF)
• IRS Publication 505 (2026): beginning in 2026, eligible educators may take the deduction on Schedule 1 and an itemized deduction on Schedule A; the qualifying expenses differ slightly
• IRS: Deducting teachers' educational expenses (supplies for health and physical education courses qualify only if related to athletics)
• Taxpayer Advocate Service: Making cents of the educator expense deduction, May 2026 (claim it whether you take the standard deduction or itemize; keep receipts and good records)

General information based on the sources above, not tax, legal or financial advice.

Written by Tobias. Updated October 26, 2026.