First Name:
Mallory
Last Name:
Hammett
Major Department:
Accounting
Thesis Director:
Mary Ann Hoffmann
Date of Thesis:
May 2013
The primary objective of this thesis was to ascertain respondents’ perceptions and knowledge of the United States federal income tax code for individuals. With citizens constantly forming their beliefs from media, reference groups, and varying political parties, I thought it would be interesting to unveil reactions to assorted questions via a survey. Disseminated using both Survey Monkey and paper copies to the accounting classes at Appalachian State University, I tallied a total of approximately 550 questionnaires. Aligning those responses with various outside sources, especially the IRS, I was able to uncover a number of themes, both demographically and overall: entitlement demeanor of Generation Y, affirmative consensus of the progressive tax rate schedule, lack of self-sufficiency, and simply, where our tax money truly goes. Amazingly, it was illustrated that present-day society has parallel beliefs of those expressed 30+ years ago. With that said, I believe it is paramount that we not only implement a high school financial literacy course, but also emphasize that we, as a collective whole, conduct our own research about taxation versus relying on hearsay.