Taxes, Comparing Prices, and Credit Cards Brainpops

What is the IRS?

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

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

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

• 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 salary?

• A bank teller

• The president of Apple Computers

• A professional athlete

• The mayor of your town

Which of these is an opinion 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 schoolteacher

• 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 are both calculated as percentages.

• They are 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 earned.

• Bosses try to fool their employees by not taking taxes out of their 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 got rid of 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%, and a new pair of sneakers cost $70, how much do you actually have to pay?

• $77

• $71

• $80

• $100