Personal finance education itself is catching on, but is still pretty sparse in American schools. Just 25 states guarantee a standalone personal finance course for students before graduation, according to Next Gen Personal Finance . And there are a number of reasons taxes may not be a part of the curriculum in those programs. "Because people don't have the background in tax law, some people don't know what ordinary income is," Donnellan says. Common credits include the Child Tax Credit for parents and guardians of qualifying dependents and the Earned Income Tax Credit for low to moderate-income earners.

---

Persons: Abby Donnellan, Donnellan, You'll Organizations: Finance, CNBC, Revenue, IRS, Child