Originally posted by: lykaon78
Problem:
Is this an educator expense, schedule A job expense (line 20), next year deduction, or neither.
Basics:
My wife is a teacher. This summer (2005) she is teaching a elective class on marine biology that she has volunteered to teach (unpaid). It involves two weeks of class room study and 1 week of field research in the Bahamas at a nature perserve. She may or may not be eligible for CE credit (still waiting to hear).
This year she has made a down payment for the airfare and lodging.
Question:
Should I list the down payment on as an educator expense on 1040 line 23, as a itemized deduction on line 20 of the Schedule A or save it and carry the expense over to next year?
Or is this even a eligible expense?
Thanks for the help.
The expenses will show on the 2005 tax year. Down payments are not expenses.
Being that the class is as a volunteer, it essentially becomes a charity item.
There are entries for expenses incurred for a charity. This is where the expenses should be listed.
She will need to keep track (documented) of all expenses incurred regarding this class.
Expenses incurred in preparing for the class before hand. ie. communication costs (phone/internet), medical services, passport expenses, transportation, advance clothing required for trip/class, bug repellant, film, etc.
Expenses while on site. ie account for every penny that is spent no matter how small; Lodging, meals, laundry, phones, transportation, bank fees for money access, tips, supplies for class, clothing purchased along with items already identified above.
Also, keep track of any expenses similar to the preparation items, when she returns.
Note that the clothing deduction must not be for items that can be used normally back at home.
Items purchased regarding the trip that could be utilized with the teaching job at home should be placed under the educator credit. However, use this credit for normal educational expenses first. It is easy for a teacher to rack up of $250 out of their pocket.
There should be no need to tap into the trip expenses to fill the educator line item expense.
The other thing to consider, is that some of the expenses could be classified as Form 2106 expenses.
The charity route may not have as large tax benefit as using the 2106 route.
You will need to try both and find out.
If you have Tax S/W then
after you do the 2004 taxes, create two dummy set of returns and experiment with putting the costs (estimate in general terms) in the Charity item list and then the Form 2106 method.
That will allow you to understand which may have a better tax beneift and also alert you to what to make sure what should tracked as expenses.
