Ever Wondered Why We Don’t Learn About Taxes in School? Here’s One Solution

Every year we hear a lot of buzz about kids not learning “real” money skills in school. Like how to do taxes, for instance. Filing taxes is something every student will navigate in the future. And while most high schools do an amazing job preparing kids for college and careers, it’s tough to fit in time to learn about taxes.

Luckily, we’ve found a FREE, ready-to-go solution to learn about taxes.

Our friends at EVERFI have teamed up with Intuit, the global technology platform that makes TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, Credit Karma, and Mailchimp, to create the first hands-on tax simulation for high school students. Embedded within EVERFI’s High School Financial Literacy Course, the Intuit TurboTax Tax Simulation is relevant, accessible, and engaging. And best of all, the curriculum is totally free.

You don’t need to be a tax expert yourself to use the Intuit TurboTax Tax Simulation.

Let’s face it, taxes can be confusing, even for adults! But the Intuit TurboTax Tax Simulation comes with a pack of teacher resources to help you address the topics covered and answer student questions—no extensive prep work required.

Kids learn by putting themselves in others’ shoes.

Built around stories and interactive exercises, the Intuit TurboTax Tax Simulation prepares students to make real-life decisions about finances. Starting with a tutorial on tax basics, students learn how taxes are calculated. Then, through scenarios featuring diverse kids just like them, they work through tax preparation themselves and learn how different life situations impact taxes. Some of the tasks they tackle include how to use tax preparation software, how to pay taxes for a gig economy job, how to claim student loan interest and educational expenses, and more.

Quality resources lead to quality learning.

EVERFI’s knack for creating immersive digital environments featuring diverse characters brings personal finance topics to life for students. And, like all of EVERFI’s programs, the Intuit TurboTax Tax simulation was designed using Bloom’s taxonomy framework of learning and assessment in mind. In addition, the simulation is aligned with Jump$tart Coalition’s National Standards for K-12 Personal Finance Education.

Build their confidence for the future.

Using problem-solving, self-reflection, and interactive activities to practice their skills, students will come away with the ability and knowledge they need to handle a very grown-up task confidently on their own. As one teacher from Pekin CSD in Iowa says, “I’ve been wanting a better way to teach taxes since I started teaching eight years ago and I’m so excited to use this in class.”

Curious and want to try the program yourself? Learn more about the Intuit TurboTax Tax Simulation from EVERFI here.