IRS Teaches Taxes

The IRS is offering a free online program to help teachers, students and others who may be interested learn the “hows” and “whys” of taxes.

The IRS’s “Understanding Taxes” program was designed by the agency with the help of teachers to make it easy to learn the basics of federal taxes. The Understanding Taxes program contains 39 lessons that are available through IRS.gov. Users can look through the program and skip to the part they want.

A series of tax tutorials guide users through the basics of tax preparation. Another feature provides the opportunity to test one’s knowledge through tax trivia. There is also a glossary of tax terms.

The program also teaches about the history and theory of taxes in the United States.

Users do not need to register or login to use the program. They can take a break and return to where they left off whenever they choose by taking note of the page and lesson number before leaving the page.

Teachers can customize the interactive program to fit their own teaching style. They can use their own lesson plans to plan their own activities and add the lessons to their curriculum.

The program is available online throughout the year by visiting IRS.gov and typing “Understanding Taxes” in the search box or by clicking here. The IRS said it usually updates the content each fall so it reflects current tax law and tax forms.

YouTube videos on the Understanding Taxes program are also available in English and American Sign Language.

Michael Cohn is the editor-in-chief of AccountingToday.com.

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