1.1 Fractions & Tax Dollars

2. The fraction, decimal, and percent versions of a number represent the exact same quantity. How would you decide which way to express a given quantity?

1. In 2022, 40% of taxpayers owed no federal income taxes or received tax credits back from the government. 

   1. Is 40% a rational number? Why or why not? 

   2. What is an equivalent fraction that also represents 40%?
      
      

2. Also during 2022, 16.5% of households paid no federal income taxes AND no payroll taxes. Payroll taxes are specific taxes that contribute toward paying into the funds for Social Security and Medicare. 

   1. What is one way you could write the percent as a fraction instead? 

3. Which number is larger – the portion of Americans who paid no federal income tax or the portion of Americans who paid no federal income tax and no payroll taxes?

Note that integers are also rational numbers, as they can be expressed as a fraction with 1 in the denominator. For example, -6 can be expressed as .

5-Point Practice: Converting Rational Numbers

Complete any number of problems that add up to 5 points.