“No taxation without representation” is a well known phrase among all Americans. This topic was one of the many reasons why the colonies declared war on Great Britain, and the rest is history. 

Minors are looking at this idea differently as they join the workforce. Teens spend countless hours working long shifts, knowing that a percentage of what they make will be eaten by federal and state taxes. 

The problem with this is that working minors are not eligible to vote. They cannot contribute to the election, but yet their money is taken by the state and government each pay period. 

Underaged teens should either not have to pay taxes or be given the right to vote. It is unfair that they have no say where the money they work hard to make goes and who it goes to.  

For example, if a minor in Roswell makes nine dollars an hour and works twenty-five hours over a two week pay period, 11.15% of their paycheck is taxed. They would take home two hundred dollars instead of two hundred twenty-five dollars. 

The amount lost to taxes builds up immensely, and teens are not allowed to oversee who the money goes to. 

In a poll we conducted about teens’ paychecks being taxed if they are not old enough to vote: sixty-one out of seventy people, or eighty-seven percent, voted against taxing working minors. 

Sophomore Isabel Villaca shared her thoughts saying, “If teens are not allowed to voice their opinion through an election from the government, then why does the government have to take money away from them?”

Numerous underaged teens declared, “No taxation without representation!”, the very reason the Revolutionary War began. 

If teens are old enough to work, they are old enough to vote. By showing that they can be responsible to hold a job and contribute to society, they are mature enough to elect officials. 

Who knows, maybe working teens will begin a revolution and lower the voting age.