IRS Resources

The Whys of Taxes

The Whys of Taxes examines the theory and history of taxes. The Whys of Taxes includes six tax-related themes, divided into a total of 24 lessons. The Whys of Taxes are packed with more than 75 online activities, these lessons explore tax concepts through matching, word scrambles, and memory concentration games, along with more traditional multiple-choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank exercises. Graded assessments at the end of each lesson give you the chance to evaluate your tax knowledge!

Theme 1: Your Role as a Taxpayer

Lesson 1: Why Pay Taxes?

Lesson 2: How Taxes Evolve

Lesson 3: The Taxpayers Responsibilities

Lesson 4: The Taxpayers Rights

Theme 2: Taxes in U.S. History

Lesson 1: Evolution of Taxation in the Constitution

Lesson 2: Early Tax Issues

Lesson 3: Income Tax Issues

Lesson 4: The Social Security Act of 1935

Lesson 5: The Wealth Tax of 1935 and the Victory Tax of 1942

Lesson 6: Tax Reform in the 1960s and 1980s

Theme 3: Fairness in Taxes

Lesson 1: How to Measure Fairness

Lesson 2: Regressive Taxes

Lesson 3: Progressive Taxes

Lesson 4: Proportional Taxes

Lesson 5: How Taxes Affect Us

Theme 4: What is Taxed and Why

Lesson 1: Federal/State/Local Taxes

Lesson 2: Taxes in a Market Economy

Lesson 3: Income Tax Facts

Lesson 4: Direct and Indirect Taxes

Theme 5: Impact of Taxes

Lesson 1: How Taxes Influence Behavior

Lesson 2: The Politics of Taxation

Theme 6: Understanding the IRS

Lesson 1: The IRS Yesterday and Today

Lesson 2: Your First Job

Lesson 3: Methods of Filing

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