Apr 17, 2018

Question: Who pays more in income taxes: corporations or individuals?

Answer: Individuals pay five times more ($1.66 trillion) compared to corporations ($324 billion) based on fiscal year 2017 projections

Questions:

  • Who do you think should pay more in taxes? Why?
  • When it comes to lobbying Congress on taxes, who do you think has more power: individuals or corporations? Explain. 
  • What do you think is a more powerful boost to the economy: a dollar of corporate tax cuts or a dollar of individual tax cuts?  

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Pew Research):

In fiscal year 2017, which ended Sept. 30, the individual income tax was expected to bring in nearly $1.66 trillion, or about 48% of all federal revenues, according to the Office of Management and Budget. The corporate income tax was estimated to raise another $324 billion, or 9% of total federal revenue.

----------

Give your students those practical life skills they need to complete a 1040-EZ form with this NGPF Activity. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

author image More by Tim right solid arrow
Mail Icon

Subscribe to the blog

Join the more than 12,000 teachers who get the NGPF daily blog delivered to their inbox: