Resource Type Icon
Clock
30 minutes
Middle School - High School
63 classes this year
Subjects: Career and Technical Education Economics Personal Finance
Topics: Fiscal and Monetary Policy Taxes

The federal individual income tax is certain. This two-part edition of the December 2018 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance addresses basic facts about the federal individual income tax and  the new changes in taxation laws in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Note: This version of the Page One Focus on Finance is written at a lower reading level for use with middle school students, but it can also be an alternative for high school students struggling to comprehend the original Page One Focus on Finance content.

View Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics

Content Standard 16: Role of Government and Market Failure
Grade 8 Benchmark

3. Most federal government tax revenue comes from personal income and payroll taxes. Payments to Social Security recipients, the costs of national defense and homeland security, medical expenditures (such as Medicare), transfers to state and local governments, and interest payments on the national debt constitute the bulk of federal government spending.

View National Standards for Financial Literacy 

Standard 1:  Earning Income
Grade 4 Benchmark

9. Income earned from working and most other sources of income are taxed. The revenue from these taxes is used to pay for government provided goods and services.

Grade 8 Benchmark

10. Some people receive income support from government because they have low incomes or qualify in other ways for government assistance.


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