Teaching · For Tutors

Every business expense,
logged before April.

Independent tutors lose deductions to shoeboxes: a receipt that faded, miles nobody logged, a subscription used half for the business. Log each expense when it happens with its business share and records. The organizer works out the possible deduction for each, totals them by Schedule C grouping and flags the records a tax professional will ask for.

Log an expenseWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Tutoring business kit, $69 for 80 items.

Expenses

The worked example is made up: $186.40 of workbooks, 212 miles of October driving at an example rate of $0.70 with no mileage log, and a video call subscription used 60 percent for tutoring. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · For Tutors$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per expense: date, category, what it was and why, business share, and an amount, miles and rate, or home office square feet, with four record checks. Works out the possible deduction for each and totals them by category; flags missing receipts, driving with no mileage log, a home office not used only for the business, mixed-use items with no written share and large purchases to ask about.
Who it is for
Self-employed and independent tutors who file as sole proprietors, and the people who keep their books.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per expense. Prints one expense, the year in a table or a blank expense log; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv) for a tax preparer; exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Tutoring business kit ($69) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Log each expense the week it happens.
  2. Photograph receipts into one folder.
  3. Keep a mileage log in the car or phone.
  4. Write down how you set any business share.
  5. Hand the spreadsheet to your tax preparer.

Log an expense

Where tutors slip

Deductions tutors often get wrongDrivingMiles to students’ homesand libraries count.Your daily commute to aregular job does not.Keep a log as you go.Home officeRegular and only fortutoring.Simplified method: $5 asquare foot, up to 300.A kitchen table does notqualify.Mixed useA laptop or phone usedpartly for tutoring.Deduct only the businessshare.Write down how you set it.Deductions tutors often get wrongDrivingMiles to students’ homes and librariescount.Your daily commute to a regular job doesnot.Keep a log as you go.Home officeRegular and only for tutoring.Simplified method: $5 a square foot, up to300.A kitchen table does not qualify.Mixed useA laptop or phone used partly for tutoring.Deduct only the business share.Write down how you set it.
General federal rules for self-employed people, as a starting point; a tax professional applies them to your situation.

Not tax advice

This organizer keeps records and does arithmetic. Whether an expense is deductible, and how, depends on your situation; a tax professional or the IRS publications for small businesses decide. Self-employed tutors also generally owe self-employment tax and may need to pay estimated tax each quarter.

The simplified home office

The IRS simplified method allows $5 per square foot of a home office used regularly and exclusively for the business, up to 300 square feet, a maximum of $1,500. The regular method uses actual home expenses and can be larger but needs more records.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business, and its instructions (irs.gov).
  2. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, including the simplified method (irs.gov).
  3. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, and the annual standard mileage rates (irs.gov).
  4. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records; Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center (irs.gov).

The worked example is made up, and $0.70 a mile is an example rate. This is not tax advice. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.