Tax Cut Math Lesson

[Longhorn]

I teach math at a community college and one of the classes is a "liberal arts" math class for students who are not going to end up in calculus. Today we studied the Form 1040 income tax return and learned about adjusted gross income, deductions, and tax credits. We then used the tax brackets to calculate someone's taxes for 2003 and 2004. The example I used was taxable income in the lower$20,000 and the "tax cut" was a whopping $11! Now, I didn't say much else except, "So there's the tax cut."

My students seemed shocked. One said, "That's two cups of coffee at Starbucks!" One asked me, "So is that the big tax cut that Bush is going all over the country bragging about?" I told him yes and then added, "Well, to be fair, there was also an increase in the child credit so someone with eligible children might have saved more." To which he responded, "So as long as someone keeps popping out babies, they get a tax cut?"

I ran out of time but next class, I'm going to do the same calculation for someone who makes more than $200,00 to see what their tax cut is. Should be interesting! :D

Edited to reflect better memory of the example I used in class!

[Worst Username Ever]

1. LOL! Nice work!!!

[Squeech]

2. That's great!

You should write it up as a teaching guide, and maybe that notorious terrorist organization the NEA could help distribute it!

[RobertSeattle]

3. Good stuff!

I used to send out the 2003 tax cut estimator to people. For most people in the middle class, the tax cut they got was minimal.

http://www.turbotax.com/articles/CalculatorStart2003TaxReliefEstimator.html

(And it is especially unfair to SINGLE people)

[Rainstorm]

4. How much does someone making in the upper 20s have

to pay total in taxes? It can't be too much. My younger son made about 25K last year and paid less than two hundred in Federal taxes.

[RobertSeattle]

6. Using your figures - Fed Tax would have been about $2230

Assuming 25K and no other income and standard deductions, his Federal Income tax bill would have been about $2230 or 8.9% of his income. The most recent Bush 2003 tax cut would have saved him a whopping $50 bucks.

[Longhorn]

7. If I remember correctly, in the example I used,

the taxable income was about $21,500, which is in the 15% tax bracket, so in 2003, they paid 10% of the first $7000 plus 15% of the amount over $7,000. So that was $700 plus $2175 or about $2,875. The 2004 taxes came to $11 less, or $2,864.

Actually, I implied in my original post that the person's gross income was in the upper 20's but I didn't really start with gross income in class. After one exemption and the standard deduction, someone who's taxable income is $21,500 might start off with a gross income in the low 30's.

[DieboldMustDie]

8. If your son made about $25,000 last year...

he also paid about $1900 in federal payroll (FICA) taxes which was matched by his employer.

[cthrumatrix]

5. the "brainy media" NEVER does this... it would embarass AWOL

[aden_nak]

9. Have some real fun.

Use Bush's salary as your starting figure.