Do homeschool teachers get the Educators Expense deduction?

I am frequently, “Are there any tax breaks for homeschooling parents?”  My usual reply is, “No; there are no tax credits or deductions for homeschool expenses at the federal level.” There are tax breaks offered by some states that I discuss in another blog post.

But here’s a bit of a new twist on the question from a homeschool mother.

I spoke with an IRS representative just today about an educator’s expense tax break.

The IRS rep stated that IRS laws specifically prohibit homeschoolers from getting up to $250 credit for educational items purchased. However, he stated congressional law overrides IRS law and that congressional law requires teachers work in a school as defined by state law. In our home state, Kentucky, we are considered private schools. The IRS rep suggested I give the credit a go next year but be prepared for an audit. Can you shed some light on the situation?

She is referring to the Educators Expense deduction of up to $250 in unreimbursed expenses.

The IRS guidelines say to be an eligible educator:

“You work at least 900 hours a school year in a school that provides elementary or secondary education, as determined under state law.”

To work means to get paid (to the IRS, not to all of us SAHMs!).  Homeschool parents are not employees of a school.  We do not get paid; we do not get a W-2.  I attended a tax workshop where we were told that the IRS will check for a W-2 from a school if a taxpayer takes the Educator Expense deduction. Homeschoolers would not have a W-2 from a school, even if your state classifies your homeschool as a private school.

The intention of the tax deduction was to move the deduction from the Schedule A (Itemized deductions) Miscellaneous Deductions where it was subject to a 2% of Adjusted Gross Income limit (meaning anything over 2% of your AGI could be deducted) and put the deduction on the front page of the 1040, so even teachers who don’t itemize deductions can take advantage of the $250 deduction.

The Educator Expense Deduction was nearly eliminated in 2006, but received an extension.  I predict the deduction will not be around for much longer.  IMHO, it was President Bush’s attempt to get a few votes from paid teachers.

So in short, I do not take the Educators Expense deduction, nor recommend that other homeschool families take the deduction.  The IRS rep was right, be prepared for an audit.  But without a W-2 from a school, you won’t win.

HTH,
Carol

P.S.  Here are my required “lawyer” words:
Internal Revenue Service Circular 230 Disclosure:  Advice relating to federal taxes that is contained in this communication (including attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of  avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or  promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein.

Bank account for your family homeschool

This homeschooling mother in NC ran into a problem when she tried to open a bank account for her family homeschool.

I live in North Carolina, homeschool my children and want to do some fund raising for some projects and field trips and also school supplies.

I went to the bank, wanting to open an account in the homeschool’s name and they said that I would have to open up an account in my name doing business as my homeschool’s name.

My question to you is, how do I go about paying taxes on the money? I do not want to get into trouble with the IRS. Was that the right thing for me to have done? Waiting to hear from you soon!
Kim

Dear Kim,

I’ve been asked questions like yours before. I answered them in two posts on my blog.

Can we (an individual homeschool) be allowed to do fund raising similar to youth sports groups, scouts,etc?

Yes, you can participate in a fund raiser if the fund raising organization allows it. BUT, the profit you make is taxable income and you’ll need to report it on your tax return.

Can my individual homeschool have a fundraiser?

Individual fundraisers and homeschool groups

I hope that answers your question; let me know if it doesn’t.

Carol Topp, CPA

IRS Intimidates Homeschool Group

I have helped several homeschool groups obtain tax exempt status with a 100% successful track record (no one has ever been denied by the IRS). One homeschool group even received their tax exempt status letter from the IRS in only three weeks!  That’s amazingly fast for the IRS; it typically takes 3 months!

But recently a homeschool group in Texas e-mailed me for help. They had applied for tax exempt status as a 501c3 educational organization.  I did not prepare their application, but looked over their website and they appeared to be similar to hundreds of homeschool organizations across the US. But the IRS was going to deny their application, keep their $750 application fee, bar them from applying again and claimed to be building a file to be used against other organizations like them seeking tax exempt status!

This was horrible and could have had a huge negative impact on homeschool co-ops and support groups across the US.  I recommended they speak to the attorneys at Homeschool Legal Advantage. There is a time and a place to hire a lawyer and this was it!

Homeschool Legal Advantage recently e-mailed this update

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:8078.2491060969/rid:4166d5ca89236cc41a5c872dd1372e97

As you can read they were a great help to this homeschool organization and resolved the matter quickly with the IRS.

The article mentioned the difference between 501c3 and 501c7 status and you may find that  a bit confusing. Additionally, the groups use of the word ‘co-op’ confused the IRS as to their purpose. What is right for your homeschool organization? How should you present your group tpo the IRS when applying for tax exempt status?

Feel free to email me to arrange a private consultation via telephone.  Each group is unique and an individual consultation will be very helpful

Carol Topp, CPA

P.S. I was so pleased to meet the attorneys with Homeschool Legal Advantage at the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinati in 2009. They were so helpful in desiring to work with homeschool organizations as well as indiviual families.

Homeschool Leader, Do You Need Help?

Can a homeschool be tax exempt and obtain grants?

Dear Carol:
I am interested in writing proposals for grants for my family’s home school. As an individual home school, not as a home school support group, I want to apply to receive small amounts of money for travel, museum entry, art gallery entry, books, posters, etc. More often than not, I find this statement :

“All applicant organizations or sponsoring agencies must be exempt from federal taxation under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501, in order to be eligible for funding.”

What do I have to do to have our home school be exempt from federal taxation?

Thanks.

Nancy H., Mississippi

Nancy,

You asked an excellent question. You are correct that many fund raising organizations now require 501c3 tax exempt status. Some homeschool groups want to become 501c3 tax exempt organization just so that they can participate in some fund raisers. I have a homeschool co-op as a client right now applying for 501c3 status.

A private individual or family cannot be a 501c3 tax exempt organization. The reason is that the IRS does not allow tax exempt organizations to offer private benefits or what they call “inurement” (meaning to become beneficial or advantageous) to individuals. Tax exempt organizations must benefit a group, preferably the general public.

I have been asked your question before so I wrote about it on my blog. Here’s the link: Can my family’s homeschool be a nonprofit?

You might also read my blog entry on doing a family fund raiser: Can my individual homeschool have a fundraiser?

I hope that helps!

Carol Topp, CPA

IRS fees will increase January 3, 2010

This just released by the IRS. Fees for applying for 501c3 tax exempt status are set to increase January 3, 2010:

User fees will increase for all applications for exemption (Forms 1023, 1024, and 1028) postmarked January 3, 2010:

• $400 for organizations whose gross receipts are $10,000 or less annually over a 4-year period
• $850 for organizations whose gross receipts exceed $10,000 annually over a 4-year period
• $3,000 for group exemption letters.

A complete schedule of all user fees will be published in the annual procedure released in January 2010.

Cyber Assistant, a Web-based software program designed to help 501(c)(3) applicants prepare a complete and accurate Form 1023 appplication, will become available during 2010.  Once the IRS announces the availability of Cyber Assistant, the user fees will change again:

• $200 for organizations using Cyber Assistant (regardless of size) to prepare their Form 1023
• $850 for all other organizations not using Cyber Assistant (regardless of size) to prepare their Form 1023.

IRS will announce when Cyber Assistant is available and the effective date of the user fee change.  Subscribe to the EO Update to automatically received an alert that Cyber Assistant is available.

http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=212562,00.html

So get your 501c3 application (Form 1023) in before January 3rd to save $100. (The current fees are $300 or $750 depending on your gross revenues)

Cyber Assistant sounds like a good tool, but the IRS does not say when Cyber Assistant will be available in 2010, so we have no idea when the lower rate of $200 will be available.

Last time the IRS increased their fees they received a deluge of applications and had a huge backlog for months. Small, new nonprofits try to save a buck wherever they can and will try to take advantage of the lower rate.  While I am glad to see the fee will eventually be dropped to $200, I still expect to see an increase in applications before the due date.

Carol Topp, CPA

Does new IRS 990N apply?

Hi Carol,
Thanks so much for all your help in getting our Christian Homeschool Network up and running.  Things are going well so far. My husband brought a card he saw at the post office and handed it to me thinking it might apply to our group. The same basic info is on this web site: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169250,00.html

It is about a new filing requirement for small tax exempt organizations.Does this apply to us? I was unsure if this was just for 501 C 3 organizations.
Thanks, Carol
Sharon W

Sharon,
The new IRS ePostcard (Form 990N) notification is for 501c3 organizations. The IRS is trying to clean up its database by using this short electronic postcard. They hope to find any “dead” nonprofits that are no longer in operation. They are also looking for small nonprofits that have “grown up” to the $25,000 gross revenues per year and should be filing a 990EZ or 990 Form annually.  The ePostcard is a way for small nonprofits to acknowledge that they are still under the $25,000 annual revenue threshold for filing the 990.

Your organization has not yet applied for 501c3 status, so you do not have to file the ePostcard yet.

I recommend that you consider 501c3 status ASAP.  The IRS expects nonprofits to file for 501c3 tax exempt status with in 27 months of formation (incorporation as a nonprofit).  Your nonprofit incorporation date was May 27, 2008, so you have until August 2010 to apply.  Otherwise, the IRS requests an explanation of why tax exempt status was not filed earlier and tax exemption is granted to the date of filing, not back to the date of formation.  This could mean that a nonprofit might owe back income tax for the period that they were not tax exempt.

If your gross revenues stay under $5,000 a year, you are granted an exception from filing the paperwork for 501c3 status. If gross revenues get to be over $5,000 a year, your group should file for 501c3 tax exempt status or pay corporate income tax on any surplus (i.e. profit).

In a nutshell, a small nonprofit has three choices:
1. Stay under $5,000 gross revenues per year
2. File for 501c3 tax exempt status
3. Pay corporate income tax on any annual surplus.

I hope that helps,

Carol Topp, CPA

Update on teachers as independent contractors

In Is Your Hired Teacher Really an Employee? I mentioned a homeschool group dealing with the IRS over teacher classification as an employee or independent contractor (IC).   They replied to the IRS via a letter stating their case for worker status an an Independent Contractor. They heard back from the IRS and the IRS determined that the teacher was misclassified as an independent contractor and should be reclassified as an employee.  The IRS wants $500 in back taxes (at least there are no penalties!)  The homeschool organization strongly disagrees and contacted a labor law attorney to help draft a letter back to the IRS.

Update:  The IRS issue was settled with no penalties, but then the State of Ohio audited this homeschool group and has fined them  $3,000-$4,000 a year for three years for unemployment taxes.  The State of Ohio sided with the IRS that the workers were employees and the organization should have been paying unemployment taxes on them.  Thankfully the state can only audit back for three years.

The issue brought to light that many (perhaps most) homeschool organizations that hire teachers pay them as independent contractors.  Most homeschool groups are small nonprofits without accounting staff to manage the paperwork of withholding and paying employment taxes, creating W-2s, etc.  It’s easier to deal with an IC than an employee.  But the IRS reminds us the the facts of the situation determine worker status, not the organization’s preference.

Also, most hired homeschool teachers are only teaching about one hour a week and are given a lot of freedom in how to conduct their class.  This was all true for my client, but the IRS still determined the teacher was an employee. She even signed a IC agreement three years in a row, so even a contract was not enough evidence for the IRS.

Here’s what I’m doing:

Please pass on this information to homeschool groups that you know hire paid teachers.  It doesn’t pay to be ignorant.

Carol Topp, CPA

The IRS's Word on Fundraising Do's and Don'ts

Carol,

My homeschool group does several fund raisers where we divide the proceeds to each family to reduce the parents’ tuition. We have a shoppers reward program and I track how much of a tuition credit each parent earns by using their shoppers reward card.  We also let students or parents work off some tuition by volunteering to work a shift at our city’s major league baseball stadium concessions.  The team makes a donation to our homeschool group (a 501c3 organization).  I’m having a hard time finding information on the IRS website about these types of fund raisers.

Susan in Ohio (paraphrase from a spoken conversation)

Susan,

I’m sorry you found it so difficult to find information about fundraisers like your group is running. Sometimes you have to know the correct language to use in a search. Search on the words “Booster Club” to see what the IRS has said.

Here’s a wonderful link from a lawyer, Harvey Mechanic, that volunteers to answer nonprofit questions. He gets a lot of questions about booster clubs and fund raising like this one in particular: AllExperts NonProfit Law:Booster Clubs

To see all the questions and answers go here: AllExperts NonProfit Law

Mr Mechanic frequently refers readers to an IRS document titled Athletic Booster Clubs: Are They Exempt? He summarizes and edits the IRS document here: Summary of IRS Article on Booster Clubs

Here’s the full text at 14 pages: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopica93.pdf

I’ve read this document several times. It is a document that the IRS uses to train their employees. While it addresses athletic booster clubs, the principles apply to school booster clubs also, including homeschool groups that do fund raising.

Finally, Mr Mechanic answers a question about fund raising by working concessions at MLB games here: Working Concessions at MLB Games

I hope that helps. Sorry there’s not one paragraph at the IRS website to point you to! This is a collection of laws, rulings and cases over several years.

Carol Topp, CPA

Is your homeschool co-op's hired teacher really an employee?

A homeschool nonprofit I work with called me quite frantic.  They had received a letter form the IRS.  It seems that a former teacher of one of their classes  was asking for an examination of her status as an independent contractor (using IRS Form SS-8).  She thought that she should be classified as an employee of this homeschool nonprofit.  If the IRS agrees with this worker, the homeschool organization may have to pay back taxes (Social Security and Medicare) and perhaps penalties.

Fortunately this homeschool group did many things right:

How about your homeschool group?  Would you pass an IRS examination?  Do your hired teachers sign an Independent Contractor agreement?  Do you avoid controlling their work as you might an employee?  Here’s a helpful brochure regarding employee or independent contractor status (IRS Pub 1779).

I’ve written about paying teachers in a homeschool co-op setting:

Paying teachers in a homeschool co-op

W-2 and tax filings for teachers

Carol Topp, CPA

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