Learn about your taxes
Lesson plans for teachers and facilitators
Learn about your taxes: national competition for middle and high school students
Students and teachers, explore the Learn about your taxes competition and your school could win a share of a $5,000 prize pot! This competition runs from September 1st to October 16th on a gamified content engagement platform. The competition is for Canadian middle and high school students, and teachers. The competition is designed to boost students’ tax literacy and confidence. Don’t miss out - Check out the Learn about your taxes competition today! Note that participants will be required to create a free account to access the competition and that clicking on the link will navigate you away from Canada.ca to a third-party website.
Use the course content in your own program and help your students develop an understanding of how the Canadian tax system works.
These lesson plans include:
- skills for your students to develop
- background information to prepare you for the lessons
- required materials to complete the lessons
- warm-up exercises to get your students thinking
- additional guidance to walk through the lessons
- discussion questions to bring it all together
- quizzes to test your students’ knowledge
Modules
Lesson plan: Purpose of taxes
Help students learn what effect the Canadian tax system has on them and what taxes pay for.
Lesson plans: Starting to work
Lesson plan: Working for an employer
Help students learn what to expect when they start a new job and the tax information they should be aware of.
Lesson plan: Working for yourself
Help students learn what to expect when they start working for themselves and the tax information they should be aware of.
Lesson plan: Preparing to do your taxes
Help students learn what they need to get ready to do their taxes.
Lesson plan: Completing a basic tax return
Help students learn the basics of the Canadian income tax and benefit return, known as the tax return. This will help clarify the calculations done by certified tax software so students can better understand the final result of their taxes.
Lesson plan: After sending us your tax return
Help students learn what to expect after filing an income tax and benefit return, from understanding their notice of assessment to interacting with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Lesson plan: Accessing your benefits and credits
Help students learn about the benefits and credits the CRA administers and how they may benefit from these payments.
Lesson plan: Saving for the future
Help students learn about the different registered savings plans the CRA administers and how they may benefit from them.
Lesson plan: Using My Account
Help students learn how they can register for a CRA account to access the services in My Account. The lesson will also explain how students can manage their online income tax and benefit information.