Teaching about tax in Year 8 Economics and Business
Introduction
The Australian Curriculum v.9 for Year 8 now includes content on the Australian taxation system. We’ve curated activities to help you teach this new content in the minimum time allocated to Economics and Business. Some of the activities have take-home tasks which will reduce your teaching time and others cover additional knowledge and understanding content descriptions. And if you have more time, or you have students that need extension, we recommend additional activities that will broaden or deepen student learning. Check out our list of activities, they’ll help your students to better understand their responsibilities in relation to tax and prepare them for their working lives.
Alignment of assessment to the achievement standard
By the end of Year 8, students explain how markets influence the allocation of resources to the production of goods and services. They explain ways that businesses adapt to opportunities in markets and respond to the work environment. They describe the importance of Australia’s taxation system and its effect on decision-making by individuals and businesses.1 Students explain why individuals and/or businesses budget and plan.
Students develop a range of questions to investigate an economic and business issue.They locate, select and organise relevant information and data.2 They interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues and trends, and describe economic cause-and-effect relationships.3 They develop a response to an economic and business issue.4They identify and evaluate potential costs and benefits.5Students use economic and business knowledge, concepts, terms and research findings to create descriptions and explanations.6
Each of the assessment tasks listed in the table below elicit evidence of student achievement in relation to the standard. There are worksheets and writing tasks in other activities that may support you to assess student progress towards achieving the standard.
List of assessments and alignment to the standard
| Assessment opportunities | Numbered aspect of the achievement standard |
|---|---|
| The importance of Australia’s taxation system – Assessment task | 1, 3, 6 |
| Impact of tax on individual and business decisions – Assessment task | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
Content descriptions
The curated activities enable students to learn the following:
Economics and Business Knowledge and Understanding
- The importance of Australia’s system of taxation and how this system affects decision-making by individuals and businesses. (AC9HE8K04)
Economics and Business Skills
- Locate, select and organise information and data from a range of sources. (AC9HE8S02)
- Interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues, trends and economic cause-and-effect relationships. (AC9HE8S03)
- Develop a response to an economic and business issue, identifying potential costs and benefits. (AC9HE8S04)
- Create descriptions and explanations, using economic and business knowledge, concepts and terms, and referencing information and data from sources. (AC9HE8S05)
Alignment of activities to elaborations for AC9HE8K04
| Elaboration | Aligned to TSY activities |
|---|---|
| discussing why the government collects taxation revenue and provides services to individuals and communities; for example, the provision of health, education, paid parental leave, childcare, aged care and infrastructure | The Australian taxation system |
| explaining how, when and why young Australians pay tax, and the type of government services provided to them | What taxes do you pay and why? |
| identifying the rights and obligations of individuals in relation to taxation by asking questions such as “When should I apply for a tax file number?”, “How is income tax calculated?”, “What should I do when an employer is not deducting the right amount of tax?” and “How do I lodge a tax return?” | Your responsibilities in relation to income tax |
| identifying examples of taxes paid by individuals and businesses, and explaining how they may influence decision-making about spending; for example, the effect of income tax, import duties or excise duties on the price of goods and services | The impact of tax on individual and business decisions |
| explaining how the collection of taxes and the provision of services supports individual human and financial wellbeing, communities and Australian society | The importance of the Australian taxation system |
Check out the following suggested sequence of activities that you can use in your classroom to teach about taxation.