Death & _____

Learning Target: I can explain why the government collects income tax. I can explain the history for the income tax.

Do Now: How much does a 99¢ bag of chips cost?
Why does it not cost 99¢?

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”

Benjamin Franklin in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

228 years ago, Ben Franklin claimed that the only constants in the world were the fact that you are going to die, and the fact that you are going to pay taxes

This week is an important time to be certain of taxes. Why? Because they're due!

  1. This year, April 15th is a holiday in Washington, DC:

    Emancipation Day is an official public holiday in the District of Columbia. It usually falls on April 16, but when April 16 is a Saturday – which it is in 2016 – then Emancipation Day moves to the previous day (Friday).
    ↩

Taxes SMH

Let's look at a real example

Every paycheck 14% of my income goes to the Federal government, and your job for today is to find out why?

Taxes FTW

Planet Money Episode 356
The Surprisingly Entertaining History Of The Income Tax

The U.S. has a really conflicted history with the income tax. For most of American history, there was no income tax at all. At one point it was ruled unconstitutional.

Today, income tax is the federal government's main source of revenue. That raises a question: How did something that was once so strange to us become so central?

The answer includes a few wars, a Supreme Court justice on his deathbed, and Donald Duck.

  1. The Income Tax is the ____________.
  2. How did the government first raise money?
  3. When can the government not easily collect tariffs?
  4. What's the earliest reference to an Income Tax?
  5. What are the three big obstacles to having an Income Tax?
  6. During what war did Congress create the Bureau of Internal Revenue (IRS)?
  7. Who paid this first Income Tax? What did the government do to get these people to pay?
  8. How much did President Lincoln pay in income tax?
  9. What was the legal argument against the Income Tax
  10. What happened in the Supreme Court case? What was the final ruling?
  11. What does the 16th Amendment do?
  12. Just in time for ________?
  13. Who did the government choose as their spokesperson for the Income Tax?
  14. What was the American Revolution about (according to tax historian Joe Thorndike)?
  15. What is Thorndike's (tax historian) theory about why Americans pay their taxes, even during peacetime?

<li>The Income Tax is the ____________.</li>
<li>How did the government first raise money?</li>
<li>When can the government <em>not</em> easily collect tariffs?</li>
<li>What's the earliest reference to an Income Tax?</li>
<li>What are the three big obstacles to having an Income Tax?</li>
<li>During what war did Congress create the Bureau of Internal Revenue (IRS)?</li>
<li>Who paid this first Income Tax? What did the government do to get these people to pay?</li>
<li>How much did President Lincoln pay in income tax?</li>
<li>What was the legal argument against the Income Tax</li>
<li>What happened in the Supreme Court case? What was the final ruling?</li>
<li>What does the 16th Amendment do? </li>
<li>Just in time for ________?</li>
<li>Who did the government choose as their spokesperson for the Income Tax?</li>
<li>What was the American Revolution about (according to tax historian Joe Thorndike)?</li>
<li>What is Thorndike's (tax historian) theory about why Americans pay their taxes, even during peacetime?</li>
The full Donald Duck Video

That's all, folks!

Reading for April 20th

Article

“Why the income tax is worth celebrating” - The Washington Post

When you finish, think like an economist:
  1. Who pushed for the first income tax? What incentive/motivation did they have for supporting an income tax?
  2. The article references three lines from the Preamble to the Constitution: “Insure domestic tranquility,” “provide for the common defense,” and “promote the general welfare.” How has the income tax helped the government meet these three goals?
  3. After listening, reading, and seeing how much money I lose every paycheck, do you support the federal income tax? why or why not?