School pupils 'should be taught about tax'

Tuesday, November 17th 2009

Britons should learn the ins and outs of the tax system while they are at school, according to one expert.

Wendy van den Hende, chief executive of Personal Finance Education Group, said that it is estimated about one million pupils leave school without knowing how the tax system operates.

"It's a symptom of the general state of financial capability within the country and our view would be that you start at school, making sure that people understand the system," she remarked.

Her comments came after research from Fidelity International indicated that 15 per cent of taxpayers do not know which tax band they are in, while almost four in ten Britons have not taken steps to become more tax-efficient.

It also revealed that most taxpayers cannot identify the correct threshold for the higher rate of income tax, which is currently £37,400, while 63 per cent think taxes will rise over the next five years.