Language skills
Ex. 10. Ask questions to which the following statements may be answers.
They are used to pay for all government services.
These include the enforcement of law and public order, protection of property, economic infrastructure, public works and operation of the government itself.
They are water, energy and waste management systems.
This is done to distribute the tax burden among individuals and classes of the population.
They are intended to support the poor, the disabled, the unemployed and the retired.
It is called fiscal policy.
In other words, this function is aimed at raising money to be spent on direct and indirect government functions.
It means transferring money from richer sections of society to poorer ones.
This criterion means that taxes must be impartial and fair.
Unfortunately, they allow some people to get out of paying certain taxes.
This principle implies that those who get benefits must pay for them.
Yes, it is based on everybody’s ability to pay taxes.
No, quite the contrary. It imposes a higher percentage rate on people with lower income rather than on those with higher income.
It means that everyone pays the same percentage regardless of income.
Ex.11. Answer the following questions.
What are taxes?
What functions of the government are paid from taxes?
What public services does the government provide?
What is fiscal policy?
What are four R’s of taxation?
What does the slogan “no taxation without representation” mean?
Name criteria of a “good tax”.
Why do people argue over the level of the equity of taxes?
What is a flat tax?
How does the income tax meet the criterion of efficiency?
What principles is taxation based on?
What is the difference between progressive, regressive and proportional taxes?
Ex.12. Make a presentation of the topic “Taxes”.
Writing
Ex.13. Write a plan for a summary of Text A. Start with
The importance of taxation in the economy.
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Ex.14. Write a brief summary (25-30 sentences) of Text A.
Ex.15. Working in pairs, prepare a report giving arguments both for and against taxation and government spending (100-150 words).
Discussion points
Ex.16. Read the following statements concerning taxation and government spending. Which do you agree with?
The redistributive purpose of taxation is, quite simply, theft.
Taxes take away people’s hard-earned private property, and so should be kept as low as possible.
Society creates the conditions under which financial success is possible, and therefore, it has a rightful claim to a share of that success in the form of taxes.
Progressive taxes may discourage people from working extra hours.
Ex.17. Read and discuss the following facts about taxes.
The Gettysburg address* is 269 words, the Declaration of Independence is 1,337 words, and the Holy Bible is only 773,000 words. However, the tax law has grown from 11,400 words in 1913 to over 7 million words today.
There are at least 480 different tax forms, each with many pages of instructions.
The IRS** sends out 8 billion pages of forms and instructions each year. Laid end to end, they would stretch 28 times around the earth.
American taxpayers spend $200 billion and 5.4 billion hours of their time to comply with the federal tax laws each year. That’s more than it takes to produce every car, truck, and van in the United States.
The IRS employs 114,000 people; that’s twice as many as the CIA and five times more than the FBI.
60% of taxpayers must hire a professional to get through their own return.
Taxes eat up 38.2% of the average family's income; that's more than for food, clothing and shelter combined.