LEVEL 1e: Filing your Taxes

Poll

Guess: What % of people get a refund when they file their taxes?

Note: A refund is when you paid too much in taxes so the government deposits the extra money into your bank account

• 10%

• 25%

• 50%

• 70%

Open Ended

Explain why getting a tax refund when you file taxes is not really a good thing.

Drag and Drop

The W-4 Tax Form is what you should file when you start working for a new employer. Filling out this form accurately will help you pay the ​

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amount of taxes. 



The W-4 will ​

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how much taxes you pay if you have children, a ​

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job, or get married, which all affect your taxes. 



For most kids in their first job, the W-4 is simple and you leave most of the form ​

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, but you can always change it if your life changes!

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correct

adjust

second

blank

Open Ended

Open-Ended: Why do we pay taxes? Anything you know about why the government takes money from us via taxes 

Open Ended

How does this video try to show that paying taxes is not fair for regular people?

Categorize

Options (8)

Firefighters put out your fire right away

Public school is free to all kids

Roads get regular maintenance 

The government will give you money if you are having a hard time paying your bills

You have to pay firefighters 1st before they put out the fire

You pay tuition for high school or you can’t attend

You fix the roads or deal with the damage to your car

If you lose your job, the government won’t help you

Organize these options into the right categories

What you get with taxes

What happens when there are no taxes

Multiple Choice

Why does someone need to file a tax return even if the IRS already knows their income? 

• Because the IRS doesn’t know your favorite job

• Because filing taxes lets you claim things that could lower your taxes or help you get a tax refund

• Because filing automatically gets you a refund

• Because filing guarantees increased income

Multiple Choice

Which of these is an example of information that could help someone pay less taxes (this is something the government wouldn’t know about unless you filed)

• How many hours you worked last week

• How much money you have in your wallet

• The name of your employer

• Business expenses you can “write off” 

Open Ended

Explain why the government has you file taxes even though they already know how much taxes you have paid this year

Drag and Drop

To file your taxes each year, Mr. Hurt has 2 options he recommends. 




Either hire a local CPA, which is a ​

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tax accountant that will do your taxes for you or use an ​

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tax software. 

With a professional, they will make sure to do your taxes correctly, but it will probably be ​

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and really not something you need unless your taxes are complicated (such as with owning a business or home). 

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professional

online

expensive

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With an online tax software, it will sometimes be ​

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OR be $5 to $50 to do a ​

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tax return. I typically recommend students do the online tax software option because they often have tools / ​

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that will help you complete your tax return ​

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.

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free

simple

advice

accurately

Poll

Fact or Myth: High school students who work should NOT file their own tax returns. If they do, that will hurt their parents’ tax return

• Fact

• Myth

Multiple Choice

Naomi is 16, lives with her parents, and earned $1,700 last summer working as a bagger at a grocery store. 

Does she have to file a tax return?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Jong is 19 years old, lives with his parents rent-free and worked full-time after graduating from high school so that he could save up for college. He earned $29,000 working in online chat support for a software company. 

Does he have to file a tax return?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Breanna is 18, a full-time college student supported by her parents, and created her own tutoring business for middle school students. She earned $6,500. 

Does she have to file a tax return?

• Yes

• No

Drag and Drop

When filling out a ​

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tax form, you will likely check the ​

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Status box for ​

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. 

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1040

Filing

Single

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Most of you will also check the box indicating that Someone Can Claim You As a ​

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because you are considered a ​

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student, live with your parents and they provide at least half of your ​

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support. 

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Dependent

full time

financial

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This would make you a ​

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child and would save your parents up to $​

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. Assuming you have no ​

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of your own, you would list ​

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under the Dependents section. 

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qualifying

2,200

children

nothing

Multiple Choice

What is a W-2 form used for?

• To report money you earned from babysitting, cash-only jobs

• To report wages you earned as an employee and how much tax was withheld

• To apply for a credit card

• To report interest earned from a bank

Multiple Choice

What information is found on a W-2?

• Your total hours worked each week

• The amount of money you spend on groceries

• Your wages and how much was taken out for federal, social security, medicare and state taxes

• The amount of money you have in your checking account 

Hotspot

Click where it shows how much you made in the year

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Click where it shows how much federal taxes was taken out

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Click where it shows how much social security taxes was taken out

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Click where it shows how much medicare taxes were taken out

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Click where it shows how much state taxes were taken out

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Click where it shows where benefits your employer gives you is shown (take a guess!)

Multiple Choice

What is the biggest difference between a W-2 and 1099? 

• There is no difference - they both show income

• One shows income and the other shows taxes

• 1. A W-2 shows income you earned as an employee with taxes taken out and a 1099 shows income earned as an independent contractor where you have to calculate how much taxes you pay 

Hotspot

Click where it shows how much you made in the year

Hotspot

Click where it shows how much federal taxes was taken out

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Click where it shows how much state income taxes were taken out

Drag and Drop

Hurt Doordash 1099


Mr. Hurt paid $​

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in federal and state income taxes when he delivered food for ​

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. This is because if you drive as a “​

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” for Uber,​

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, Lyft, etc, then you are considered an independent contractor and you have to be responsible for paying your taxes.

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0

DoorDash

gig worker

Doordash

Drag and Drop

Hurt Doordash 1099


When you do gig work, ​

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are not taken out ​

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because you are not considered an ​

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. So, you have to make sure you have paid the ​

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amount of taxes when you file. 

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taxes

employee

directly

correct

Multiple Choice

What is the difference between standard vs itemized deductions? 

• The standard deduction is a fixed amount and itemized deductions are based on a list of your expenses

• The standard deduction requires receipts, itemized deductions do not

• The standard deduction is only for business owners and itemized deductions are for everyone

• Itemized deductions are always bigger than the standard deduction 

Open Ended

Explain why someone your age should probably take the standard deduction and not try to itemize deductions