The Little Black Book of Tax Deductions for Teachers

The quiet leak

Meet Ms K's accountant. Thinks teachers finish at 3pm.

Ms K teaches Year 3. She buys her own markers, readers, stickers and half the craft cupboard, marks at the kitchen table till nine, and pays for her own PD. Her accountant claimed her union fees, called it a day, and charged her $300.

Never asked about the supplies she funds herself, the hours she works from home, the courses she pays for. Why would he? He gets his $300 whether Ms K gets $300 back or $3,000.

She gives the job everything — and quietly subsidises it out of her own pocket, every single year.

Ms K's leak — one year

Classroom supplies (self-funded)$700

Self-education & PD$600

Home office — marking & planning$400

Phone, internet & memberships$650

Back in her pocket~$800

The fix

You don't need to do your own tax. You need to run the bloke who does.

Leave the lodging to the accountant — you're paying for it. You just need to know what's yours to claim, what to bring, and what to tell them to chase.

✓

Plain English

No jargon, no homework. What you can claim and why — read it in one free period.

🔒

Audit-safe

Every claim tied to a current ATO ruling. I tell you what you can't claim too, so you never trip up.

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5 minutes a month

A dead-simple system so you walk in with the receipts, not a tote bag of guilt and faded dockets.

The maths

It's a tool, not a book. And it can't really cost you.

01 · It's a tool

Comes with the Accountant Brief

Fill in the one-page brief + the deduction index, hand them over, and watch nothing slip through. You don't read this once — you use it. See the brief →

02 · It's a write-off

The cost is itself deductible

Managing your tax affairs is deductible (ATO s25-5). Keep the receipt and have your accountant claim it — a tax tool that's also a tax deduction.

03 · It's guaranteed

Pays for itself, or it's free

If it doesn't claw back more than it cost, email me within 60 days for a full refund. Keep the book.

Pays for itself · deductible · guaranteed — the only way to lose is to keep overpaying.

How it works

Vet. Arm. Direct. Then watch them earn it.

01 · Vet

Mark your accountant

Ten questions that out a coaster in five minutes. Pass: keep them. Fail: see them after class.

02 · Arm

Bring the evidence

The exact list and receipts so nothing "slips through" and they can't blame the paperwork.

03 · Direct

Tell them what to chase

Supplies, PD, home office. You point, they fetch. That's the fee.

What's inside

The cheat sheet — plus the boring detail, for the keen.

Is your accountant actually any good? (Spoiler: maybe not)

The ten questions that out a coaster in five minutes.

The supplies you fund yourself

Markers, readers, rewards, the laminator film — what's claimable and the proof you need.

Self-education, PD & working from home

Courses, the 67c/hr marking-at-home method, phone & internet.

What you can't claim

So you push hard where it counts and never trip an audit.

Excursions, camps & the odds and ends

The bits that add up — and what to actually put to your accountant.

By the numbers

This isn't dodgy. It's the money you already spent.

Minimisation, never evasion — every figure tied to current ATO guidance.

$800average a teacher was leaving behind, every year

67¢per hour for marking & planning at home

100%of claims cited to current ATO rulings · audit-safe

Who's writing this

"I'm not an accountant. I'm the bloke who reads the rules everyone else skips — and tells you which ones are quietly costing you money."

I'm Joshua. I'm 30, and I've spent my life pulling systems apart to see how they really work. I've made a fortune, lost it, and learned more from the losing than the winning.

Everything's a system — tax, money, even a school timetable. Every one has a way in once you can see it. Tax is just the first one worth learning to beat, because it's the one quietly costing you the most. I'm not turning you into an accountant. I'm showing you how the game works so the person you pay actually plays it for you.

— Joshua

What teachers say

From the staffroom.

★★★★★

"I'd been buying my own supplies for years and never claimed a cent. Got $1,100 back. Wish I'd read it sooner."

KPMs K. · primary, Adelaide

★★★★★

"The home-office bit for marking alone covered the cost ten times over. And it actually made me laugh."

JDJames · high school, SA

★★★★★

"Finally a tax thing that doesn't make me feel thick. Sent it to the whole faculty."

RHRachael · TAFE

Coming soon

This one's not out yet — get first dibs.

The Nurses & Midwives edition is live now. The Teachers edition is in the works. Join the waitlist — you'll be first to know, and first to the launch price.

Straight answers

The questions you're actually thinking.

Is this legal?

Completely. Tax minimisation — claiming what the law already lets you — not evasion. Every claim's tied to a current ATO ruling, and I tell you what you can't claim so you never trip up.

Are you an accountant?

No — and you don't need another one. I teach you to run the one you've got, and spot when they're phoning it in.

Isn't this just doing my own tax?

Goodness no — you've got reports to write. This is about managing your accountant: bring the list, tell them what to chase, don't get fobbed off.

What if it doesn't help me?

Then you don't pay. 60-day, no-questions refund. If it doesn't claw back more than $24, email me — keep the book, I'll wear it.

Not ready? Start free.

The 5 deductions your accountant keeps "forgetting."

Drop your email and I'll send the free cheat sheet — the checklist, a home-office hours tracker, and the 60-second refund calculator. Genuinely useful, no spam.