U1: Ch1 Taxes & Basics - Classwork (2025)

Last updated 9 months ago

31 questions

Note from the author:

Chapter Notes

Unit 1 Covers the basics of Algebra and some arithmetic connected to taxes.  We will look at how they are paid and used.

Chapter 1 Objectives:
Define rational numbers
Express rational numbers as a fraction, decimal, and percent, and convert between the three
Multiply rational numbers to solve word problems
Understand how the federal government spends income tax dollars
Explain the similarities and difference between payroll taxes and self-employment taxes
Explain how sales tax is calculated, and how it differs between states and local areas
Calculate percentages
Read a pay stub
Complete a W-4
Identify common payroll deductions

Instructions

Chapter Notes

Unit 1 Covers the basics of Algebra and some arithmetic connected to taxes.  We will look at how they are paid and used.

Chapter 1 Objectives:
Define rational numbers
Express rational numbers as a fraction, decimal, and percent, and convert between the three
Multiply rational numbers to solve word problems
Understand how the federal government spends income tax dollars
Explain the similarities and difference between payroll taxes and self-employment taxes
Explain how sales tax is calculated, and how it differs between states and local areas
Calculate percentages
Read a pay stub
Complete a W-4
Identify common payroll deductions

Section 1: How Taxes are Used

Take your best guess!

Now that you know what the categories are, which ones do you think get the most money? Take a guess, match each category with the amount it gets from every tax dollar.

Draggable item		Corresponding Item
National Defense		29.2 cents
Running the Government		19.4 cents
Social Security		14.2 cents
Transportation		9.1 cents
Veterans Benefits		5.7 cents
Unemployment & Labor		3.8 cents
Criminal Justice System and Operations		3.1 cents
Environment and Energy		1.6 cents
Commerce and Banking		1.1 cents
Interest on National Debt		1.0 cents
Education and Social Services		0.8 cents
Health		0.3 cents

What types of programs does each category cover?  We will discuss in class, then Mrs. B will post the answers. Remember, class discussion = community engagement points!!

In general, why does the US government collect taxes?

How do you think the federal government decides how to allocate its funds? Who makes the decisions?

What, if anything, surprises you about how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars?

Which, if any, of these programs have you heard about recently or frequently in the news? In what context are people talking about them?

Opinion: If you were in charge of allocating tax dollars, are there spending categories you would prioritize more or less than they currently are? Why?

The data in the activity we did is from the most recent tax year. Would you imagine the ranking from highest to lowest changes much between years? Why or why not?

Opinion: Do you think the average American household would be better or worse off if they got to keep all their income rather than paying some in taxes? Why?

Section 2: Converting between fraction/decimal/percent

7 out of 20 students in the class had income tax withheld from (taken out of) their paychecks

Write as a fraction: _______ 
Write as a decimal (round to three decimal places): _______ 
Write as a percent: _______ 

8 states in the US have no state income tax

Write as a fraction: _______ 
Write as a decimal (round to three decimal places): _______ 
Write as a percent: _______ 

$3 of Christine’s $41 receipt was sales tax

Write as a fraction: _______ 
Write as a decimal (round to three decimal places): _______ 
Write as a percent: _______ 

$52.70 was deducted from Larnell’s $850 paycheck for Social Security taxes

Write as a fraction: _______ 
Write as a decimal (round to three decimal places): _______ 
Write as a percent: _______ 

The fraction, decimal, and percent versions of a number represent the exact same quantity. How would you decide which way to express a given quantity?

Section 3: Rational Numbers

Note that integers are also rational numbers, as they can be written as a fraction with 1 in the denominator. 
For example, -6 can be written as: 

In 2022, 40% of taxpayers owed no federal income taxes or received tax credits back from the government.

Is 40% a rational number?__________ , because it __________ be written as a fraction.

In 2022, 40% of taxpayers owed no federal income taxes or received tax credits back from the government.

What is an equivalent fraction that also represents 40%?

Also during 2022, 16.5% of households paid no federal income taxes AND no payroll taxes. Payroll taxes are specific taxes that contribute toward paying into the funds for Social Security and Medicare.

What is one way you could write the percent as a fraction instead?

Which number is larger –

IXL Practice

Go to Classlink (under your Peabody bookmarks or click the link) and click the green IXL button

On IXL, search the shortcut codes listed below for each activity or just come back here and click the links below. You can also find these on your "From Your Teacher" but make sure you're doing the right ones!

Work on each activity until you get a Smart Score of 75 or better

IGNORE THE SNAPSHOT POPUP IF IT COMES UP!

A.3 Convert between decimals and fractions

Shortcut code: WSD

What was your score?

U.4 Convert between percents, fractions, and decimals

Shortcut code: ZAV

What was your score?

J.2 Classify rational and irrational numbers

Shortcut code: D6J

What was your score?

Section 4: 5 Point Quiz Review

The Tax Policy Center estimates that 40% of middle-income households will pay no federal income tax for tax year 2022.

Write this percent as a fraction.

18 out of 26 students in the class have never filed taxes before.

Represent this value as a percent rounded to the nearest tenth. (Accurate rounding matters!!!)

In 2022 the top 1% of taxpayers (in many cases, people with the highest incomes) paid nearly 26% of the total federal income taxes collected.

Write each percent as a fraction:
1% = _______ 26% = _______ 

1896 of the 6492 households in your zipcode filed their taxes by February 15. By March 15, another 2429 had done so. What percent of households, rounded to the nearest tenth, have NOT filed by March 15?

You’re given the rational number ᠎᠎᠎᠎46/224. You can choose to add 10 to the numerator OR add 10 to the denominator. Which option will give you a larger final number?

$3.34 out of Annette’s $73 bill at the grocery store was sales tax. Write this as a rational number (fraction), remembering that numerator and denominator must be integers.

What’s one integer that could be used as the denominator of this fraction
to make its value less than 23%?

(There are many possible answers!!)

Click here to complete the 5 point quiz.  You need to complete any combination of problems that adds up to 5 points.  Harder questions = more points.

If you are trying to complete this after the original due date, you need to contact Mrs B to unlock it!

Section 5: Multiplying Rational Numbers

There is a typo in the first line, it should say 151,448,000

Practice together: Sales tax is another way governments collect tax money. MA state sales tax is 6.25%.  If you were purchasing an item for $50.00, what would the tax be? Round to two decimal places so it looks like money! _______ What would the total price be? _______ 

Practice together: Last year, Keisha paid $765 in taxes while working a part-time job and going to school. Now that she’s working full-time, she was shocked to find that her taxes jumped 612%! How much does Keisha pay in taxes now?

Practice together: How could find the total price in one step for #29?

Section 6: Apply It (10 points - double quiz!)

 Click here to complete the Apply It Questions - this is CRITICAL THINKING, we haven't done problems exactly like this, you are APPLYING your knowledge

If you are trying to complete this after the original due date, you need to contact Mrs B to unlock it!