War Tax Resistance
by Tom Shea
“Our government can only continue fighting its wars if we cooperate – with our silence and by its citizens dutifully paying the 50% of our federal taxes which are allocated for wars and armaments.” – David Hartsough, March 8, 2014
Julia “Butterfly” Hill diverted $150,000 from her IRS taxes and gave it to dozens of works for human causes. “In my letter to the IRS I said I’m not refusing to pay my taxes, I’m actually paying them, but I’m paying them where they belong because you refuse to do so.” Rev. Steve Kelly S.J. spent 15 months in the SeaTac U.S. Detention Center, most of it in solitary, as one the five Disarm Now Ploughshares. Hill’s fame and fortune came from her 783 days sitting on a 180 foot-high, 1500-year-old California Redwood to prevent a lumber company from cutting it down. Kelly was one of five members of the Disarm Now Ploughshares sentenced for their nonviolent occupation of the Kitsap Trident Nuclear Submarine Base. Billions of dollars go to build and support these nuclear subs and missiles as well as the plan for a new fleet of Trident submarines.
Kelly and Hill are two of over thirty people in the film “Death and Taxes” who tell why and how they did war tax resistance. Laced with upbeat music and documentaries of tax protests from all over the country, this DVD is a quick study. “If you work for peace, stop paying for war” is the motto of National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC), which produced “Death and Taxes” and makes it available for $5.
War Tax Resistance starts with education about the IRS. Who pays and who gets? Projected Tax Review 2015: Individual income taxes account for 46%, Payroll withholding, 32%, Corporate taxes 12 %, Excise taxes 3% (www.nationalpriorities.org). For 2015 Budget, $584 billion goes to Department of Defense and another $202 billion to militaristic portions of other U.S. departments, e.g. Homeland Security, NASA, FBI, etc.
How do people resist war taxes? Some simply do not make enough money by choice or in fact to have to pay taxes. Others file their 1040 form and refuse to pay a token amount (e.g. $5, $10.40, or $50). They may send a letter along with the filing form to make a personal statement of why they are resisting taxes for war. It’s important to send the letter separate from the IRS form so you can copy to friends and representatives. Marking the IRS form as a protest invites the IRS to charge you with a “frivolous” violation which can lead to a penalty.
The IRS deals with tax regulations. The Courts deal with sentencing. In its 32 years, NWTRCC records only about thirty people going to jail for resisting war taxes since World War II. To learn more about the variety of ways to resist paying war taxes go to www.nwtrcc.org or call 800-269-7484.