I am having trouble with the Teachers Expenses part of the process. There’s nowhere for me to enter how much I spent on classroom supplies.

[DawnC]

This deduction is for kindergarten through grade 12 educators who buy classroom supplies out of their own pockets. If you’re one of them, you can deduct up to $250 of these expenses.

In TurboTax, you enter 1 lump sum.  To get to the place to enter them:

1. Sign in to your tax return and choose pick up where I left off or review
2. Type teacher expenses in the search bar, press enter and use the Jump to teacher expenses link to get there.  If that doesn't work, use the steps below.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Click on Federal - left menu
2. Click on Deductions & Credits - top menu
3. Click on See All Tax Breaks if you have not done so already
4. Scroll to Employment Expenses and click Show More
5. Click Start or Revisit next to Teacher (educator) Expenses

Tax Tips for Teachers: Deducting Out-of-Pocket Classroom Expenses

[HoneyBadger6198]

That does not work.  There appears to be a glitch in the software this year.  I have seen other people that are having the same problem.  Please try running through those steps yourself and you will see at the end it will tell you that you have entered $0 even if you have entered something.  Can you please see to it that this is fixed and alert us afterward?

[JohnW222]

Try going to “Tax Tools” in the left pane in TurboTax Online.  Click “Tools,” then “Topic Search,” and enter “educator classroom supplies.”  Click the link, and this should let you enter your relevant information.

[HoneyBadger6198]

I bought the CD.  I went to to the TT website and don't see a left pane.  Do you work for TT? If so, please try to enter this data yourself and you will see there's a glitch.  This is my 7th year using TT and I've never encountered such an issue before.  I can't file my taxes until TT fixes this.

[HoneyBadger6198]

Just so you understand the issue, after I enter $250 for the teacher deduction, I get this message:

"We've run the numbers, and unfortunately you don't qualify for the teacher expenses deduction this year."

Then I click:

Why don't I qualify for this deduction?

And I get this:

"Earlier you told us you have $0 in teacher (educator) expenses, so there's nothing to deduct. You can go back and enter a different amount or keep going."

But I din't enter $0.  I entered $250 like I always do. 

[DoninGA]

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@HoneyBadger6198 wrote:

I bought the CD.  I went to to the TT website and don't see a left pane.  Do you work for TT? If so, please try to enter this data yourself and you will see there's a glitch.  This is my 7th year using TT and I've never encountered such an issue before.  I can't file my taxes until TT fixes this.

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If you purchased the TurboTax 2019 software on a CD, why are you accessing the TurboTax online editions?  You should have installed the software on your personal computer and  then start the 2019 tax return using the installed program.

For the Teacher (Educator) deduction -

• Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
• Click on Deductions and Credits
• Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
• Scroll down to Employment Expenses
• On Teacher (Educator) Expenses, click on the start or update button

Or enter teacher deduction in the Search box located in the upper right of the program screen. Click on Jump to teacher deduction

[DoninGA]

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@HoneyBadger6198 wrote:

Just so you understand the issue, after I enter $250 for the teacher deduction, I get this message:

"We've run the numbers, and unfortunately you don't qualify for the teacher expenses deduction this year."

Then I click:

Why don't I qualify for this deduction?

And I get this:

"Earlier you told us you have $0 in teacher (educator) expenses, so there's nothing to deduct. You can go back and enter a different amount or keep going."

But I din't enter $0.  I entered $250 like I always do. 

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I see no errors using the 2019 Premier desktop edition -

[HoneyBadger6198]

Unfortunately, I don't get that message, but thanks for trying.

[HoneyBadger6198]

[HoneyBadger6198]

That's what I get.  I literally have to enter $2,200 or more in the box labeled "unreimbursed educator expenses" (on the previous screen) before it will give me the $250 deduction.  I have no idea why it's doing that.  

[staceydyer1971]

This is my problem too! If I look at the form it seems to be an error trying to calculate it with the amount from my daughter's 529 for her education expenses? Maybe that's the glitch? Did you ever figure this out?

[xmasbaby0]

@staceydyer1971 You are posting a question about a 529 plan to a thread about the deduction that K-12 teachers can get for the expenses they pay for classroom supplies.    What are you trying to do?

[HoneyBadger6198]

No, I never did get help form Turbo Tax or anybody.  All I know is that I lost on the teacher's deduction thanks to Turbo Tax. Sorry, I can't help you.

[staceydyer1971]

I'm not trying to do anything weird - just enter my teacher expenses! It seems to be a glitch in your software. When I enter educatOR expenses, it will only display them as $0 unless I enter an amount that is more than the expense allowance left from my daughter's educaTION expenses! I noticed what was happening on the forms worksheet. Too late now.