BrainPop: Taxes

What is the IRS?

• The U.S. government agency that oversees the collection of federal taxes.

• The U.S. government agency that decides how tax cheats should be punished.

• The U.S. government agency that sets federal tax policy.

• The U.S. government agency that determines how high sales taxes will be.

Which of the following is an example of a service provided by the federal government?

• A national chain of fast-food restaurants

• An interstate highway

• Cable and satellite television

• The Internet

What can you infer from the fact that Ancient Egyptians paid taxes in goods, not money?

• The Ancient Egyptians did not know how to make things out of metal or paper.

• Ancient Egyptians may not have had a monetary system, so they used trade instead.

• The goods that Ancient Egyptians owned had no real value.

• It was easy for Ancient Egyptians to cheat on their taxes.

Which of these people depends on tax money to pay his/her salary?

• A bank teller

• The president of Apple Computers

• A professional athlete

• The mayor of your town

Which of these is an option about taxes?

• Taxes pay for things like bridges and parks.

• The progressive tax system is unfair to wealthy people.

• Federal income tax is taken right out of most people's paychecks.

• Without taxes, there would be no U.S. military.

Under a progressive income tax, who would pay the largest proportion of her income in taxes?

• A school teacher

• The owner of a small business

• A millionaire

• A student on financial aid

What do sales tax and income tax have in common?

• They both apply to things you buy.

• You pay both of them only once a year.

• They're both calculated as percentages.

• They're both progressive taxes.

People try to cheat the IRS by not reporting their total income. In other words:

• People try to pay the government less than they owe by lying about how much money they earn.

• Bosses try to fool their employees by not taking taxes out of the paychecks.

• Merchants try to fool customers by charging them extra sales tax.

• Employees try to fool their bosses by lying about the amount of money they should pay in taxes.

What might happen if the government abolished the social security tax?

• People with jobs could afford to retire.

• The government would not be able to pay its employees.

• New roads and bridges could not be built.

• Retired people would lose a valuable source of income.

If sales tax is 10 percent, and a new pair of sneakers costs $70, how much do you actually have to pay?

• $77

• $71

• $80

• $100