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.

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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.

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