What Do Federal Taxes Do?

Find out how federal taxes fund national programs and services in this informative worksheet! Students will first connect six different needs of a country’s population to the matching ways that taxes help meet those needs. Then, students will read about the debate over NASA’s federal budget and write about reasons someone might think NASA is or is not worth the investment. 

This middle school worksheet is a great resource for helping students better understand the purpose and uses of federal taxes. This knowledge can contextualize news stories and reports about government budgets and public spending, allowing students to participate in conversations about current events. 

For more resources on this topic, try What Do Local Taxes Do?, What Do State Taxes Do?, and How Do Federal Governments Collect Taxes?