Tax stories bring real life relevance to your classroom.

With the student workbook, Intuit permits each student to create up to 20 sample tax returns anonymously online. Great for working in the computer lab; allows for all sorts of fun what-if scenario's, and students can save the cases to edit again.

Tax literacy is an essential skill we love to ignore but require for life. 

The student workbook is designed to introduce students to taxation with five case studies:

1. Simple employee
2. Self-employed student
3. Student moves away for school, and back for summer job, then back to school
4. Server with tips
5. First full time job with employment and benefits.

Instructions:

TurboTax® Online is a product of Intuit® Canada. TurboTax Online, is free to use. Customers do not pay to input data, it's only necessary to pay at the end to file.

With TurboTax Online, there is no software to install, sign in, use any computer. Save your work and come back to finish it later. That makes it perfect for students in your computer lab to play and learn about tax.

To protect student's privacy, I will show you how to use it anonymously.

Follow my instructions for free, safe, redirecting email from the company to an unused email address, use fake names and SIN #. Each student can create as many as 20 sample case studies, saving their work to complete later at home or in the library.

1. Click to view the instructional video: found under the next heading below, Video Links: "How to register for TurboTax Online (11 minutes)"

2. Teachers - Create a free GMail account for the class to use to ensure students privacy is maintained.

3. Click the  link open the 33 pageStudent WorkBook, 33 page PDF file found under the heading: Get Started

Teachers, not sure if this is right for your class? Here's a testimonial from a teacher in Ontario:

Eileen, Thank you very much for this website. I am an Ontario Teacher teaching Math for Everyday Living, grade 12. The curriculum has a tax component where students are to use online tools to file a tax return. I googled this morning and came across your website, and then used your site today to do Case Study 1, just as an intro to online software. Most students were able to complete this case study and it was an excellent exercise for them.

In the future, if I teach this course again I will most certainly use this site again, and would plan to use it to a much greater extent. Are the videos for case study 3-5 available?? Thanks again for such a wonderful...Canadian...resource.

There are probably many other Ontario teachers charged with teaching this unit in the MEL 4E course on paying income tax, who don’t have the background or the resources to do go a good job with the online component. I have also seen the CRA online site for students and it pales in comparison to the resource you’ve provided. I will certainly spread the word to my coworkers about your website. Keep up the good work. I certainly appreciate it .

Tracey Moffat, OCT Charlottenburgh-Lancaster District High School, Williamstown, Ontario

Note: Find the Video links on my YouTube channel: TaxDetective  - here's the link to all three videos (or click below on each one):  

And, for some other tax learning videos I uploaded to YouTube, click here 

Get Started Student WorkBook: 33 page PDF Video Links How to register for TurboTax Online (11 minutes) Case #1 Video: Student works @ McDonald's (24 Min) Case #2 Video: Student, paper route (33 Min) Teacher Resources Teacher ToolKit Case 1 Student, works at McDonald's restaurant Guidelines for Employment Standards Act in BC EI premium rates and maximums CPP premium rates, minimums and maximums Income Tax Deduction at Source TD1 federal for 2017 TD1 (BC) RRSPs and related plans RRSP Excess Contributions Case 2 Student, self-employed paper route TD1 Forms to explain personal tax credits Employee or Self-employed? How payroll works Vehicle expense for employees or self-employed Worksafe BC Case 3 Server in pizza parlor Tips & Gratuities Report tips not included on T4 on Line 104 Elect to contribute to CPP on Tips with Form CPT2 Paying your income tax by instalments Case 4 Student, away at University of Toronto Students Students: Guides, forms and publications Common types of income for students Scholarships Moving expenses Case 5 Young Adult, first full time job Union Dues Family Donations Tools TurboTax® software UFile® software Future Tax (another software to try) Intuit Education Tools CANLII Tax Literacy home page Keeping Records Keeping Records Keeping Records in depth study CRA's letter campaign Privacy Security of taxpayer information Canada's Privacy Commissioner Canada's Privacy Legislation BC's Privacy Commissioner BC's Privacy Act FINTRAC CSIS

Note to Teachers: Contact your CPA Provincial Association Office to request a CPA to visit your classroom!  CPA's volunteer to speak at schools and welcome these opportunities. If there's no room in your curriculum for tax, and you're concerned about the e lack of tax education, start an after school or noon hour 'Tax Club' and ask for a CPA to mentor the club. 

Tax Literacy is a huge part of Financial Literacy. I believe we have a financial literacy crisis in Canada. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada educational program doesn't include anything about tax in their materials on financial literacy. FCAC informed me that they don't have any mandate to include tax, and that tax is solely CRA's mandate.

CRA's mandate on the other hand seems to be focused on administering the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act. They do have a course online called Learning about Taxes, but I got tired of putting in my name and why I wanted to access the educator section long before I got anything valuable out of the product provided. Teacher feedback is that the materials are out of date and are for Ontario, which isn't helpful, so they end up re-working the material in order to make it useful to their students. Not much of a reference is it?

The BC Securities Commission financial learning team tells me they have included the basics about payroll, a T4 and a single T1 in their curriculum, but you have to be a teacher or a student and must register to get access to their materials. They are only working to the most basic IRP, mentioning a single paycheque, T4 and single, simple T1. They have interesting case studies, but don't carry those to completion by working through the tax cases.  

I welcome contact by teachers who are interested in teaching about tax. For 30 years, I prepared returns, and volunteered to connect with high school students through my provincial accounting association. I'm retired, no longer certified, but happy to help if I can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2003-2018  Eileen Reppenhagen   Site Accessibility    Privacy policy    More legal stuff    Contact

Disclaimer: This website does not research or endorse any product or service appearing in links or advertisements anywhere on this site. 

I consider requests to update a particular page if there's an error or new information worth adding.

If someone were to make an offer to purchase the rights to TaxDetective (Trademarked in Canada), I'm open to offers. 

Please do NOT rely on or use the information on this website as a basis for a course of action without obtaining appropriate professional advice, in writing. 

All Intuit®, QuickBooks® Software,Quicken® Software and Profile® Software trademarks remain the property of their respective holders, and are used only to describe the products discussed on this website.

Any usage of the above-mentioned marks anywhere in this website in no way indicates any relationship, endorsement, or affiliation with the holders of said trademarks other than specifically stated, for example, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.