Results tagged “taxes” from PEDABLOGUE

Sigh. I guess it's almost time to file taxes again. You with me?

College-level educators make expenses and sometimes generate income in ways that are different than other professions. Usually a good tax tip book can come in handy for this, especially when you first take on a new tenure-track job, shift into a research/grant project, or substantially change your workload in some way. Tax guides for academics can be quite helpful, but I find they are often not published annually, even though they should be. Those that are professional and current, often aren't discovered by academics. So I'm updating this perennial topic with a list of publications that might help with your taxes, if you're in higher ed.

Here are the ones I've found that seem to be most current. I haven't seen them yet, so I cannot endorse them fully, but the first one -- from NTSAA -- has been very helpful for me in the past:

• 2008 Educator's Tax Guide
• Teachers Tax Service
• Teacher's Pocket Tax Guide 2008

If you know of others, please leave a comment about them. Others that I've recommended on this site before seem, sadly, to be unavailable or out of print -- and I am longing especially for a new edition of the the THICK and highly useful AIS book, "Tax and Financial Guide for College Teachers and Other College Personnel". They might be available used on ebay or elsewhere. Useful for guidance if you are new to figuring your taxes as an academic professional, but rely on them only with the knowledge that their specific legal references are probably falling out of date.

***
Here's some elated reading on Pedablogue from the past that might help (though they may include dead links that take you to crazy places):

• Leave No Teacher Behind
• Taxes for Teachers
• Tax Time!

Recommendations appreciated in the comments. -- Mike Arnzen

I just received the local tax forms in the mail -- something that always gives me an unwelcome wake-up call -- an uncomfortable reminder that there's extra work to be done. And math's involved!

I'm a little ahead of the game this year, if only because I got TaxCut for Xmas (only slightly more fun than wool socks) and my copy of the brand new AIS Tax & Financial Guide for College Teachers arrived in the mail. The latter is a highly recommended book that covers the entire tax law and it has lots of case studies for what is and isn't deductable (especially good on research, grants, and home office information).

Other books and information on teachers and taxes that are worth browsing (see last year's entry for more):

• 2005 Teacher's Pocket Tax Guide
  
• Teacher's Tax Service
  
• NEA page on the Teacher's Tax Breaks
  
• Jackson Hewitt's overview on teachers' tax returns
  

Tax Day is fast approaching in the USA. I've gathered up all my paperwork and I'm going to try to tackle them this weekend, armed with nothing more than a few books on taxes for educators and H&R Block's TaxCut. If you haven't started even thinking about this matter yet, here are some helpers for this year or next (caveats: a) some of these only apply to K-12, b) some of these are back dated a few years...so review material carefully)

• Educator's Tax Guide from ETPS
  
• Teacher's Pocket Tax Guide
  
• Tax Breaks for Teachers by Motley Fool
  
• AIS 2003 Tax & Financial Guide for College Teachers (old edition)
  
• IRS on Educators Expense Deduction for K-12
  
• Educator's Tax Checklist at Arizona's Teachers Tax Service
  

I have come up with my Leave No Teacher Behind Act. In its roughest form, it means forgiving all teachers their federal income tax. -- Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 11/17/03

This is the most brilliant idea I've heard in a long time. Give teachers a financial break as an incentive to attract people into the profession (I think this should go for nursing and other 'service' careers that are in jeopardy right now, too). There's already the "educator expense deduction" on the 1040 form, but that's a pittance ($250 max) and I believe it only covers K-12 teachers.

Everyone knows that all teachers, in all fields, aren't paid well and this is a disincentive to becoming a teacher (although I should say that the ones who do become teachers despite the poor pay are smart people who know that following one's calling is a far greater reward than following the dollar bill signs). I like Cohen's idea a LOT.

Since I'm on the topic of money, I should say that I discovered this newsstory through a syndication feed at 403(b)wise... a site devoted to the favored retirement plan for most teachers -- and a site I learned about from the TIAA-CREF newsletter awhile back. 403(b)wise is selling a book (which is probably good), but it also offers a load of good "finance for teachers" information, including an overview of upcoming Bush ERSA legislation that may radically effect teachers' retirement accounts.

I'm an English professor, so as you can imagine accounting and finance is something quite alien to me. When I first started teaching full-time in 1999, I had to teach myself how to do the finances particular to teaching. But if this stuff interests you, then you might also want to read the books I did. Invest in a copy of The Complete Teacher's Guide to Retirment Wealth by Vincent Tate. (The book's website oversells a bit too much...but I've read this book and I can report that it IS a very useful one). Tate's book is helpful in getting your finances in order and developing a plan for retirement. Taxes are something different. I never understood what was deductable and what wasn't... until I discovered the Educator's Tax Guide from ETPS. I suspect a newer, similar book that might be even better is the AIS 2003 Tax & Financial Guide for College Teachers.