Income tax

This sequence is intended as a framework to be modified and adapted by teachers to suit the needs of a class group. If you assign this activity to a class, your students will be assigned all student resources on their 'My learning' page. You can also hand-pick the resources students are assigned by selecting individual resources when you add a work item to a class in 'My classes'.

Part A: Defining income tax

1. Play: How does Australia’s income tax system work?. This video explains how Australia’s progressive income tax system works.
2. Use a grouping strategy to organise students in groups of 3 or 4.
3. Groups construct a brief definition of income tax and a description of how it works. Each group writes their definition and description on the board.
4. Conduct a class discussion to develop an agreed class definition of income tax and a description of how it works. Once you’ve settled on answers, get students to write them in their notebooks.

Part B: Calculating income tax

1. Explicitly teach students how to use the tax withheld for individuals calculator on the ATO website.
2. Invite students to refer to the Calculating income tax – How-to-sheet. Tailor your explicit instruction to complement the worked examples.
3. Read through the worksheet as a class and invite students to complete it. 
4. Once students have had time to complete the worksheet, work through the answers as a class.

Part C: Investigating income tax

1. Walk students through the investigation instructions, reminding students of the similarities to the problem you modelled.
2. Students may benefit from working individually and/or in small discussion groups.