QC Family Focus: March 2016

Explaining Taxes to Children
R.I.A. Federal Credit Union
Most people do not completely understand taxes until
they’re well into college or even later. You might think
children are too young to learn about taxes but you don’t
have to teach them by having a serious conversation at the
kitchen table. You can use everyday encounters they have
to bring up the subject and create fun activities to help
teach your children about them. Here are some ideas to
help you get started:
1. Everyday encounters are probably one of the easiest
ways to teach children about taxes that will actually stick
in their minds. If your child is saving up for a new toy
or a gift for someone else, that is the perfect opportunity
to explain sales tax since they will need more money for
the item than what is listed as the sticker price.
2. While driving around or taking a walk, point out things
like parks, roads, libraries, schools, police officers, and
fire hydrants to explain that taxes are collected to pay for
these services and things that we all share. Have them
point out things that they think are paid for with taxes.
3. One easy way to teach children about income tax is to
create a family tax with a tax jar. Every member of the
family has to put a small percentage of their income or
allowance into the tax jar and then you can vote on what
to do with that money after a couple of months or a year,
such as a pizza night or day spent at the public pool.
4. Tax Day falls on April 18th this year. It would be a good
day to teach children why we pay taxes and who started
them. You could create activities for your children like
having them figure the price of different items with the
sales tax added or having them write a list of things in
the community that would be taxed.
You might think that children are too young to
learn about taxes and that they won’t benefit from it,
but incorporating regular fun activities into their daily
lives will help them learn and actually remember. There
are many free resources and teaching lessons that can be
searched for online, too.
QC Family Focus - March 2016 11