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I pose this question to American taxpayers; why do you allow your taxpayer money to be used to cause death and distruction to millions of people around the world? Yet you do not say a thing when your government refuses to spend any taxpayers money to relieve the disastrous destruction of a natural disaster such as the Tsunami or the 100,000 dying in the Sudan of starvation and millions in other parts of the world?
To use and overuse colloquialism. What is wrong with this picture?
Summarized below are a few war tax resistance methods. Detailed descriptions can be found in WRL’s War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military and through war tax counselors. Contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC) for counselors in your area. The probability of collection or prosecution varies among the methods; all — except #4 — are illegal. Serious consideration must be given before embarking on these types of resistance.
1) File and refuse to pay your taxes. This involves filling out an IRS income tax return (e.g., Form 1040) and refusing to pay either a token amount of your taxes (e.g., $1, $10, $100), some “military” portion (approximately 1% for nuclear warheads, 25% for current military spending, 50% for current and past military spending combined — see WRL’s pie chart for the latest percentages), or the total amount (since a portion of whatever is paid goes largely to the military). Include a letter of explanation with the return.
2) File a blank IRS 1040 income tax return with a note of explanation.
3) Don’t file any Federal income tax returns.
4) Earn less than the taxable income. However, it is important to organize and speak out on war tax resistance in order to publicize why you have choosen to keep your income low. Also, write letters to the IRS, newspapers, politicians, friends, and relatives.Consequences of War Tax Resistance
irect action for peace often entails exposure to unpredictable risks. War tax resistance is no exception. Though getting a notice from the IRS is very likely, jail is virtually unknown for war tax resisters.
IRS Notices and Fines
Those who file but refuse to pay will probably get several tax due notices, adding on civil penalties in the 5 to 25% range, plus compound interest at a rate around 10%. If your resistance is token (e.g., say $1), the interest and penalties will not amount to very much even after several years.
Nonfilers may go undetected, but if the IRS catches up with them, they may find stiffer penalties imposed, with no statute of limitations. The statute of limitations for filers is 10 years beyond the date of assessment (which is often a few months after filing). A false or inflated W-4 form, or a return claiming an unallowable deduction or credit affecting the calculation of tax due, may lead to an additional $500 penalty.
The IRS considers their notices and threatening letters their most effective tax collection tool. In many instances, they do proceed beyond the threats.
Audits
The IRS has three years from the date of filing to audit a return. Generally, unless you claim questionable deductions on your tax returns, your chances of being audited are no more likely than most tax filers. However, many war tax resisters consider audits an opportunity to explain to the IRS their reasons for resisting. Resisters who don’t file are not likely to be audited. However, there is no statute of limitation for non-filers.Levies and Property Seizures
Once the IRS “assesses” a specific amount for a given year and at least ten days have passed since a “final demand,” its power of collection includes levy (seizure) of wages, bank accounts and other property (such as — in very rare instances for war tax resisters — cars and houses).
The first step for the IRS, after sending out its notices, will often be to look for bank accounts in banks near the home or office of the resister.
The next step will be to find employers or clients (based on the W-2 or 1099 forms submitted with the income tax return) and levy the salary of the resister.
Sometimes, an IRS collections agent will attempt to call or visit you at home to get you to pay up or at least get information about your assets.
Very rarely, the IRS will attempt to find out if you own property (such as a car or house), then seize it. At any point, the IRS is usually happy to have you settle with them rather than proceed with seizure and auction of property. Click here to see a list of recent IRS house and car seizures against war tax resisters.
The IRS rarely responds to telephone tax resistance because of the small amounts involved. It often costs the IRS more to deal with a resister than is eventually collected.
Criminal Prosecution
Criminal prosecution is possible, but in practice so rare that in most cases the risk is negligible. Since the modern war tax resistance movement began during World War II, only one person (in the 1940s) has been jailed for resisting his war taxes. Only about 30 out of tens of thousands of people in the U.S. who have resisted war taxes have even been brought to federal court and convicted on issues related to their war tax resistance (usually for refusing to reveal sources of assets to the government or, in the 1970s, inflating their W-4 forms by claiming too many dependents). Click here to see a list of court actions against war tax resisters since World War II. /www.warresisters.org/consequences.htm
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