In September, an event for youth organizations took place in Trakai, near Vilnius. The event was aimed to those institutions and organizations that work with youth leisure, employment, entrepreneurship, volunteering. 18 organizations were there to present opportunities for young people to express themselves. On our side, we reminded that taxes appear when business start, and we explained the benefits of paying taxes.

Other organizations rated the taxedu site well and were happy to find a tax resource on the subject. Young people want to do business and think about taxes later, but it's important that they get the information they need in a timely manner and that information needs to be understood.

The event was organized under the the multiannual action programme„Fiscalis 2020“.

We tried a great game - „ Mobility era“ and we already have the first winner in Lithuania (probably worldwide). I really want to tell everyone about this game so I tried it out with my family. Everyone liked the game, especially wondering where and what the taxes and average wages were. It took a little longer to figure out how to exchange the earned ECUs into HaPs, but we got it later.

I really liked the pace of the game adapted to these times. One lap can be done really fast, and for today's youth, it's good. If you like you can play another lap and so on. It is especially good that the game is developing a habit of paying taxes. I think that's the main goal of the game and it works.

În Bucuresti a fost organizată o tabără de vară, prilej cu care experții din cadrul Ministerului Finanțelor Publice au susținut un workshop interactiv privind portalul Taxedu.

Tabăra s-a adresat unui grup de copii cu vârste cuprinse între 10 și 13 ani și a avut ca principal obiectiv furnizarea informațiilor de bază privind educația financiară. 

Cu această ocazie, copiii au facut cunoștință cu 2QT, faimosul roboțel din Taxedu care te instruiește cu privire la taxe și impozite, au înțeles ce sunt acestea și ce rol au ele în viața noastră, cine sunt plătitorii, ce se întâmplă dacă nu plătim taxe și impozite. Bineînțeles, au fost explicate și beneficiile obținute atunci când ești un bun contribuabil.

Momentul cel mai așteptat dar si cel mai atractiv totodată, a fost reprezentat de incursiunea micuților, alături de experți, pe tărâmul Taxlandiei, jocul care le-a oferit acestora bucuria de a juca rolul primului-ministru pentru o zi.

A summer camp was organized in Bucharest, where experts from the Ministry of Public Finance held an interactive workshop on the Taxedu portal.

The camp targeted 10-13 aged children and had as main objective the provision of basic information on financial education.

On this occasion, the children met 2QT, the famous Taxedu robot who teaches you on taxes, makes you understand what taxes are and what is their role in our lives, who is paying taxes and what happens if you do not pay taxes. Moreover, they received information about the benefits they get if they are good taxpayers.

The most awaited but also the most attractive moment was represented by the small children's incursion, alongside experts, on the land of Taxlandia, the game that gave the little ones the joy of playing the role of Prime Minister for a day.

The project “Fiscal literacy for young people” is based on the goal of bringing taxes closer to children, giving them basic answers to questions such as what is tax and why, when and how should they be paid, and how much is to be paid. 

The youngest among them have probably never even heard of the word ‘tax’ before. Therefore, their literacy will be approached in a special way that will be adapted for their age. The goal for youngsters in the first years of primary school (between the age of 6 and 8) will be to gain basic basic knowledge about what tax is and why it should be paid.

The first years of primary school (grades 1, 2 and 3), mark a big step for children. From a simple, playful environment, they have to be integrated into one that is full of rules, responsibilities and obligations. In order to make this more friendly and interesting, teachers use different methods and approaches adapted to their developmental stage.

Below is a short description of how the Slovenian financial administration is running this project.

Methods
Lecturers of the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia will use different methods of teaching, namely explanation, conversation, observation, and display of pictures and films. The main purpose is to conduct the training as a workshop.

Accessories
Different real voices from stores, colouring books, colours, cartoons and movies.

Performance: step by step
Step 1: Lecturers welcome children and teachers. They introduce themselves and provide some basic information about the work of the Financial Administration that would be of interest to children of this age.

Step 2: The lecturers ask if they have seen the following picture: a poster about the obligation of shops to issue invoices and the obligation of buyers to demand an invoice. This poster is in every store.

Step 3: Link to the Financial Administration website: http://www.fu.gov.si/en/

• Read aloud together.
• The lecturers ask whether they understand what the text means. 
• They ask the following questions: Do you know what a receipt is? Why should it be taken?
• Receipts are examined. Lecturers ask what is written on the receipts.
• Children express their thoughts.

Step 4: Lecturers ask the children if they know what the word tax means. About paying tax in shops, the children are asked what they think the shop owners do with the tax money?

Step 5: Lecturers focus on the budget. They describe it as a large treasury or the purse of the Republic of Slovenia. They explain what the Republic of Slovenia does with taxes.

Step 6: The lecturers show the children a 5-minute animation.
•    Children are asked to describe what they saw in the cartoon. Lecturers  review with the children all they have learned: We should always take a receipt, and taxes are very important because we all benefit from them.

Step 7 : Discussion about what the Republic of Slovenia would be like without taxes? The children are shown a short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3hd4CKGY98 

The children are asked if they want such a Republic of Slovenia. Of course, the answer is no. And this is why they always need to ask for a receipt. 

Step 8 : The lecturers advise the children to ask their parents or teachers to learn more about taxation together by using the following website of the European Union: https://europa.eu/taxedu/child_sl 

At the end, the lecturers distribute colouring books and crayons. The colouring book contains pictures of professions that we encounter every day and are financed by taxes (police officers, teachers, soldiers, garbage collectors, etc).

Conclusion
With tax literacy for young people in the first years of elementary school, Slovenia’s financial administration is facing a great responsibility, and it is also a great challenge to provide these youngsters a bit of knowledge from a very demanding field such as taxes.

The entire exercise lasts one school hour.
 

Branka Hercog
Head of the Project
 

A workshop for financial literacy teachers in Slovakia!

The Academy of Financial Administration organised a free workshop for financial literacy teachers and education coordinators.  Financial literacy teachers and coordinators attended the workshop organised by the Methodological-Pedagogical Centre in Bratislava, the Academy of Financial Administration on 30 May 2019. 

You can learn about more and future workshops organised by the Financial Administration by clicking on the link below:  https://www.financnasprava.sk/sk/infoservis/skolenia

The Italian Revenue Agency, in collaboration with Ministry of Education, University and Research, promotes the culture of tax compliance in schools. The activity in the schools has been going on since 2004. In 2018, the Revenue Agency carried out about 1 600 events in Italy, with the involvement of thousands of students, teachers and schools.

Revenue Agency officials use booklets, stories, tales and games to illustrate to children the Italian tax system and the importance of contributing to the realisation and functioning of public services by paying taxes. The Revenue Agency’s offices also organise school awards to involve students to produce videos, brochures, cartoons and spots with the aim of describing in a simple way the importance of everyone’s contribution and compliance with civic rules.

The Italian Revenue Agency has promoted a tour to discover Sicilian towns and places, symbols of the fight against illegality. This tour has involved 50 students from Cefalù, in the province of Palermo. The “Tour of Legality” competition was launched in November 2018. The students ideated a hypothetical journey in five stages for a group of imaginary tourists. In February, the Revenue Agency presented the tour to the public and awarded the best travel packages designed by the students.

On the tourist route, the students have inserted several places confiscated from the mafia that have now become emblems of compliance with rules, including the “Laboratorio della Legalità” in Corleone, a town in the province of Palermo, in the past a vital center of the mafia and of crime. Regarding tax compliance, students ideated the imaginary “Pasticceria Iannazzo Vincenzo” of Corleone, a pastry shop that was recognised for its respect for tax obligations.

In March 2019, the Italian Revenue Agency and Region of Puglia organised the “Legality Day”. This was the final moment of the project “Malala Yousafzai Award”, an initiative to promote legality in schools that operate in poor areas.

The project – “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world”. These words of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistan student and the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, summarise the project’s intentions. The initiative, promoted by public institutions and non-profit associations, has involved about 600 students who have attended lessons about legality and compliance with rules.

The Legality Day – The event, which took place in San Severo (Puglia), with the presence of several institutional authorities, represented the final moment of the project’s edition for 2018-2019. During the event, authorities awarded the schools that have worked to support education in poor areas and the students have proclaimed a public oath as “Legality sentinels”, with the task of protecting their territory with the values of moral and civil commitment.

The Italian Revenue Agency has participated in Palermo Chiama Italia, an event that took place last 23 May 23 in Palermo (Sicily) to commemorate the death of the two Sicilian judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, symbols of the fight against organised crime.

The initiative was promoted by the Ministry of Education, University and Research and by the “Giovanni e Francesca Falcone” Foundation. Thousands of students took part in the initiative in many Italian cities. The Italian Revenue Agency participated with a stand in Palermo where it promoted school initiatives on taxes, fairness and tax legality.