Teacher giving children sat around a table a lesson using a tablet computer
Tax Basics - Helping children and young adults learn about tax

In a recent House of Commons debate, many of the MPs present admitted to having little or no financial education at school. This is not altogether surprising, as the national curriculum still does not cover the skills and attitudes necessary to understand money and finance.

We think tax education is necessary if children and young adults are to understand why tax is so important in our society and provide them with the tools they need to develop good money habits which they can take with them into adulthood. To help with this, we have recorded a number of videos aimed at providing children and young adults with an insight into tax:

  • What is tax? - As well as explaining what tax is, we introduce children to why we need taxes, who pays them and why they are so important.
  • What does your payslip mean? - Aimed at those moving into work for the first time, we explain the different types of information that employers include on payslips, what they are used for and why it is so important to always check them carefully.
  • The wonderful world of VAT - VAT is the one tax that pretty much everyone pays at some point in their life, but it can also have some weird and wonderful rules. We explore why VAT is so important, how it works and some of the quirks we can sometimes encounter, like why milkshake powders are treated differently depending on whether they are chocolate or banana flavoured!
  • Different types of working - There are many different ways to work and earn money – but what’s the difference between being an employee, self-employed, a partner or company director? In this video aimed at young adults, we explore the different types of working and what they mean in terms of tax.

We hope that our videos will help with the tax education of children and young adults. Having watched the videos, we would love to hear your feedback and suggestions for any future videos. Let us know at [email protected].

 

This article reflects the position at the date of publication (14 September 2023). If you are reading this at a later date you are advised to check that that position has not changed in the time since.   

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