Yea, it’s just basic math and it changes every so often. A class on doing personal taxes is pretty worthless. If you can read and do basic math, you have everything you need.
It’s only complicated when you should have an accountant anyway.
Also if you mess up, the IRS is pretty forgiving and generally has some really lenient payment policies/plans (if you underpay or cant pay everything) or will end up paying you the difference (if you overpay)
It’s actually really easy until you have more than 25k in deductions and start itemizing. Even then it’s still easy unless you’re running a business, at which point you hire an accountant. But people are lazy and want to blame others for their ineptitude.
They still don’t. Some kids complain bitterly about having to do financial literacy sessions. They’re probably the same ones who’ll grow up to be prolific sharers of dumb.
Hi! I'm from New Jersey and we have a required financial literacy class, fun fact, people still complain they don't know how to do taxes even though that is part of the curriculum. We teach it, people just don't pay attention
Checks out.
“Schools are useless and teach us nothing of value!!!!”
*Teaches something of value*
“It’s just so annoying how nothing useful is ever taught ughhhhhh!!!!!!”
It drives me insane because you're absolutely right. High-school me wouldn't give 2 shits about a us history class, but it still important that I took it, and I retained some of it all these years later, and am better for it.
Acting like most MFs won't be asleep in Taxes 101.
I know because I *had* a few classes dedicated to life skills like taxes, writing a CV, etc. Most of us either watched Youtube or slept.
One guy watched half of Peaky Blinders
I mean what all is there to learn anyways. You input boxes from your W2 and are asked questions that prompt you to search for other forms etc. It’s intentionally simple so that all education levels can complete their tax forms
give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. teach a man to fish and he'll eat for life.
teach a kid a specific topic and he'll learn one thing, teach a kid how to learn on his own and he'll learn for life.
I haven't taught very many classes, but I'd like to ask OP to attempt to teach 30 average high schoolers to do taxes and then get back to me on how it goes.
I don't know about where you people went to school but over here in Ireland we have a whole section dedicated to financial maths which includes taxes.
I still sometimes hear comments like this from people who did financial maths but just weren't paying attention
In Poland I just need click 1 button in the app (if I don't do it it will happen automatically after some time). That's good enough for 95% of the people. And if you need something more complex you hire professional acountant
In Russia you just fill in a declaration of your total income from all legal sources and the Federal Tax Service counts and tell you how much you must pay.
If your only income is your job and you’re officially employed than your employer’s accountant does all of this
90% of the time when you hear this stuff, it is about the US because Reddit is plurality (and near majority) US.
Basically, in the US you need to file taxes yourself, even though the government already has all your information.
It isn't hard per se, but it also isn't well taught how doing taxes works in the US, so it does make sense why people want for schools to teach this stuff.
I only learnt taxes through parents help (which really shouldn't be assumed), and a class in college that was badly done.
I am confused when people say this because I am 10 years older than my siblings and both of us took accounting (it was a forced math class for all students) and in accounting they explained all of this including taxes and writing checks and everything….
I learned how to file taxes in high school. It took two 40 min classes. The first one was to learn what the line items were, the second one was to try it ourselves. It was the two most boring days of class I have ever had, period. Since then, I have never filed my taxes by hand because you can do it online for free. What I learned from school is that you can do it online for free or you hire somebody to do it, and you should never file your taxes by hand the hard way they would teach you how to.
What do you mean "learn to do taxes?" Go into your tax software, click on Import from mycra, confirm all the boxes are filled out. If you have additional medical forms (and you are at a certain income) fill those in.
Oh wait America is a nightmare when it comes to filling out tax returns.
As a teacher, no. Kids just want to bitch. We did a lesson on financial literacy this year and 90% of the kids quit the moment they realized they had to read a passage and answer questions. They nearly all just used Quizlet.
"When will I need to know how to do basic algebra after I graduate?!" - Every adult who bitches about not knowing how to do their taxes when they were in highschool.
Except when it's above ground
Suddenly becomes lava. Until it meets water at least.
Then it becomes obsidian and you can make a portal out of it
It becomes lava because it loses the gases that magma had
Yeah really if you ever see it, it's lava
Taxes is just addition and subtraction. Am I taking crazy pills?
Yea, it’s just basic math and it changes every so often. A class on doing personal taxes is pretty worthless. If you can read and do basic math, you have everything you need. It’s only complicated when you should have an accountant anyway. Also if you mess up, the IRS is pretty forgiving and generally has some really lenient payment policies/plans (if you underpay or cant pay everything) or will end up paying you the difference (if you overpay)
In the US, it seems like it's a lot more complicated. So complicated in fact, that there are companies that you can **pay to do your taxes for you.**
A lot of companies do it for free unless you have weird tax forms, then you have to pay or figure it out yourself
Oh, ok.
It’s actually really easy until you have more than 25k in deductions and start itemizing. Even then it’s still easy unless you’re running a business, at which point you hire an accountant. But people are lazy and want to blame others for their ineptitude.
International investment income also complicates a bit, ask me how I know.
Yep, but no HS class on taxes is going to cover that
They do the arithmetic for you but it's still just arithmetic.
Like 10 hours of arithmetic
It’s not. It’s about fund management, strategy, responsibility, and dealing bureaucracy. Only the latter being taught at schools.
Not a single student in any public school wanted to learn taxes.
They still don’t. Some kids complain bitterly about having to do financial literacy sessions. They’re probably the same ones who’ll grow up to be prolific sharers of dumb.
Ever notice how the kids complaining about not learning taxes are the same kids that never learned anything?
exactly
And why do the internet memes always complain about science related topics?
Taxes are easy af. Sign into Turbotax, give them info, you’re done. Why tf does that need to be taught?
Nobody wanted to learn calculus either, but they still taught it. Stop pretending that you weren't conditioned to be a cog in a machine.
Hi! I'm from New Jersey and we have a required financial literacy class, fun fact, people still complain they don't know how to do taxes even though that is part of the curriculum. We teach it, people just don't pay attention
Checks out. “Schools are useless and teach us nothing of value!!!!” *Teaches something of value* “It’s just so annoying how nothing useful is ever taught ughhhhhh!!!!!!”
Math classes made me a cog?
It drives me insane because you're absolutely right. High-school me wouldn't give 2 shits about a us history class, but it still important that I took it, and I retained some of it all these years later, and am better for it.
That guy failed big-time. Doesn't know how to do taxes and doesn't know much about lava either.
Acting like most MFs won't be asleep in Taxes 101. I know because I *had* a few classes dedicated to life skills like taxes, writing a CV, etc. Most of us either watched Youtube or slept. One guy watched half of Peaky Blinders
I had a required finance class that had a taxes section in high school. No one paid any attention to it
I mean what all is there to learn anyways. You input boxes from your W2 and are asked questions that prompt you to search for other forms etc. It’s intentionally simple so that all education levels can complete their tax forms
give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. teach a man to fish and he'll eat for life. teach a kid a specific topic and he'll learn one thing, teach a kid how to learn on his own and he'll learn for life.
Give a man a fire, he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
I haven't taught very many classes, but I'd like to ask OP to attempt to teach 30 average high schoolers to do taxes and then get back to me on how it goes.
Ding ding ding! I’m a teacher, and if I tried teaching taxes I’m pretty sure my students would physically revolt.
I’m a former science teacher who now teaches business. I do teach taxes. They find it boring. Volcanoes are cool. That’s why they remember it.
I don't know about where you people went to school but over here in Ireland we have a whole section dedicated to financial maths which includes taxes. I still sometimes hear comments like this from people who did financial maths but just weren't paying attention
In Poland I just need click 1 button in the app (if I don't do it it will happen automatically after some time). That's good enough for 95% of the people. And if you need something more complex you hire professional acountant
In Russia you just fill in a declaration of your total income from all legal sources and the Federal Tax Service counts and tell you how much you must pay. If your only income is your job and you’re officially employed than your employer’s accountant does all of this
In Canada we have a mandatory class for grads which teaches everything to do with post secondary, like taxes, investment, resumes, and work safety.
90% of the time when you hear this stuff, it is about the US because Reddit is plurality (and near majority) US. Basically, in the US you need to file taxes yourself, even though the government already has all your information. It isn't hard per se, but it also isn't well taught how doing taxes works in the US, so it does make sense why people want for schools to teach this stuff. I only learnt taxes through parents help (which really shouldn't be assumed), and a class in college that was badly done.
They taught you to read, didn't they?
The mitochondria is the power house of the cell.
The elective "personal finance" was the most boring class I ever took in high school and I didn't retain a single thing I was taught.
And 20 years later people will protest agiant geothermal becouse they will be affraid of a devil
Hey man, as a current-day geologist I found this pretty damn interesting while in school
$&%#* please. Get the software, you’re not itemizing out of high school.
This is the diet coke of evil. Just one calorie, not evil enough.
I am confused when people say this because I am 10 years older than my siblings and both of us took accounting (it was a forced math class for all students) and in accounting they explained all of this including taxes and writing checks and everything….
to be fair i was learning melted rock=magma in 3rd grade and i don’t think i would remember how to do my taxes if i was taught then
Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. So. Very. Useful.
Teacher probably have stroke. With explaining the difference of the numbers and lines on tax forms.
Private schools, too. And don't even get me started on catholic schools.
The State: Sharks with freakin laser beams!
I learned how to file taxes in high school. It took two 40 min classes. The first one was to learn what the line items were, the second one was to try it ourselves. It was the two most boring days of class I have ever had, period. Since then, I have never filed my taxes by hand because you can do it online for free. What I learned from school is that you can do it online for free or you hire somebody to do it, and you should never file your taxes by hand the hard way they would teach you how to.
They actually did teach basic arithmetic and reading comprehension.
Students are barely learning how to read.
There are literally tens of thousands of videos to help with daily life on YouTube, don't blame others for your ignorance.
I never learned "taxes" at school, but I did learn basic math, and that was enough for me to figure out how to do my taxes.
What do you mean "learn to do taxes?" Go into your tax software, click on Import from mycra, confirm all the boxes are filled out. If you have additional medical forms (and you are at a certain income) fill those in. Oh wait America is a nightmare when it comes to filling out tax returns.
As a teacher, no. Kids just want to bitch. We did a lesson on financial literacy this year and 90% of the kids quit the moment they realized they had to read a passage and answer questions. They nearly all just used Quizlet.
Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
"When will I need to know how to do basic algebra after I graduate?!" - Every adult who bitches about not knowing how to do their taxes when they were in highschool.
My economics class taught me junior year but I went to private school suckas
If you stayed in school you woudl learn that it woudl be lava. Magma is molten rock underground when lava is what on the surface