Tax Education Shouldn’t End with Tax Day

April means TaxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. Day, a yearly reminder that most people don’t like our tax code. As a recent Tax Foundation poll found, people don’t understand it either. With a looming tax battle on Capitol Hill, the need for tax policy education has never been higher. We shouldn’t let tax education end with Tax Day. ​

The public is wrapping up taxes this week, but according to the latest poll, over 61% of people do not know or are not sure of basic concepts related to income tax filing, and over half do not know how tax bracketsA tax bracket is the range of incomes taxed at given rates, which typically differ depending on filing status. In a progressive individual or corporate income tax system, rates rise as income increases. There are seven federal individual income tax brackets; the federal corporate income tax system is flat. work. (They shouldn’t feel bad. Albert Einstein thought the income tax was the hardest thing in the world to understand.)

The national poll, conducted by the highly respected Public Policy Polling group, surveyed over 2,700 U.S. taxpayers of all political stripes and income levels. It revealed only 48% of respondents knew tax refunds were nothing to celebrate and that 64% did not know that a $1,000 tax creditA tax credit is a provision that reduces a taxpayer’s final tax bill, dollar-for-dollar. A tax credit differs from deductions and exemptions, which reduce taxable income, rather than the taxpayer’s tax bill directly. is more valuable than a $1,000 deduction.