2021 Educator Expense Deduction
The 2021 Educator Expense Deduction is $250.
Effective 2021-01-01Source: Rev. Proc. 2020-45 (IRS)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2020
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2020.
| Item | 2020 | 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum deduction | $250 | $250 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Eligible educators - elementary and secondary school teachers, instructors, counselors, principals, and aides - who pay out-of-pocket classroom expenses that are not reimbursed.
What changed this year, and why
For taxable years beginning in 2021, the maximum above-the-line deduction for unreimbursed classroom expenses paid by an eligible educator is $250, unchanged from 2020.
Common questions
- What expenses are covered?
- The deduction covers books, supplies (other than nonathletic supplies for health or physical education courses), computer equipment (including related software and services), and other equipment and supplementary materials used in the classroom.
The 900 hour rule, and who counts as an educator
To claim the educator expense deduction, you must have worked as a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide in a school that serves children from kindergarten through grade 12. The rule does not extend to college professors, preschool teachers, or tutors who work outside a traditional K–12 school setting. In addition to holding one of those job titles, you must have worked in the school for at least 900 hours during the school year. The 900-hour threshold is measured over the course of the school year, not the calendar year, so part-time educators who accumulate enough hours still qualify. If you meet both the role requirement and the hours test, you are treated as an eligible educator and may deduct up to $250 of qualified expenses on line 11 of your 2021 return.
An eligible educator is a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide who worked in a school for at least 900 hours during a school year.
2021 Instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (IRS)
What you may actually deduct
The educator expense deduction covers ordinary and necessary expenses paid in connection with your work as an educator. Qualified expenses include professional development courses you have taken that relate to the curriculum you teach or to the students you teach. They also include books, supplies, equipment (including computer equipment, software, and services), and other materials used in the classroom. For 2021, qualified expenses were expanded to include amounts paid or incurred for personal protective equipment, disinfectant, and other supplies used to prevent the spread of coronavirus. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your educational field, while a necessary expense is helpful and appropriate for your profession as an educator - even if it is not strictly required. This broad definition allows educators to deduct a wide range of classroom and professional development costs up to the $250 limit.
Qualified expenses include ordinary and necessary expenses paid: • For professional development courses you have taken related to the curriculum you teach or to the students you teach; or • In connection with books, sup- plies, equipment (including computer equipment, software, and services), and other materials used in the classroom.
2021 Instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (IRS)
Home schooling and health class supplies are out
Not all education-related expenses qualify for the educator expense deduction. The IRS specifically excludes expenses for home schooling from the definition of qualified expenses. This means that parents who teach their children at home cannot claim the educator expense deduction for curriculum materials, supplies, or other costs associated with home schooling. Additionally, expenses for nonathletic supplies used in courses in health or physical education do not qualify. This exclusion applies specifically to nonathletic supplies - athletic equipment and supplies for physical education classes may still qualify if they meet the ordinary and necessary requirements. The IRS draws a clear line between expenses incurred by educators working in traditional school settings and those incurred in home schooling or certain health and physical education contexts. If your expenses fall into these excluded categories, they cannot be counted toward your $250 deduction limit.
Qualified expenses don’t include ex- penses for home schooling or for non- athletic supplies for courses in health or physical education.
2021 Instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (IRS)
Four amounts that cut the deduction first
The deduction is not simply what you spent. Certain tax-free money you received for education has to come off your qualified expenses first, and only the remainder counts toward the $250 you may deduct. Three of the reductions are tax-free education money: excludable interest on series EE and I savings bonds reported on Form 8815, nontaxable earnings or distributions from a qualified tuition program, and any nontaxable distribution of Coverdell education savings account earnings. The instructions add a fourth in the same list: reimbursements you received for these expenses that were not already reported to you as wages. The order matters. Subtract first, then apply the cap - not the other way round - because a reduction applied after the cap would cost you nothing and that is not how the line is figured.
You must reduce your qualified ex- penses by the following amounts. • Excludable U.S. series EE and I savings bond interest from Form 8815. • Nontaxable qualified tuition pro- gram earnings or distributions. • Any nontaxable distribution of Coverdell education savings account earnings.
2021 Instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (IRS)
Two educators on one joint return
When both spouses in a married couple filing jointly qualify as eligible educators, the household gets a larger combined deduction. The maximum deduction rises to $500 on the joint return. However, the increase does not let one spouse absorb the entire benefit. Neither spouse may deduct more than $250 of his or her own qualified expenses. In practice, each spouse calculates the qualifying costs he or she individually paid, applies the required reductions, and then claims up to $250 each on line 11. If one spouse had no qualifying expenses, that spouse contributes nothing and the other spouse cannot shift unused room to the first spouse; the cap of $250 per person holds regardless of how the joint total is allocated.
If you and your spouse are filing jointly and both of you were eligible educators, the maximum deduction is $500. How- ever, neither spouse can deduct more than $250 of his or her qualified expen- ses on line 11.
2021 Instructions for Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (IRS)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Rev. Proc. 2020-45 (IRS)
- Maximum deduction
the amount of the deduction allowed under § 162 that consists of expenses paid or incurred by an eligible educator in connection with books, supplies (other than nonathletic supplies for courses of instruction in health or physical education), computer equipment (including related software and services) and other equipment, and supplementary materials used by the eligible educator in the classroom is $250.