A Peaceful Tax Return
A non-player in the tax resistance movement, I do ask questions off and on. I pay my taxes each year and I don't cheat. I do have interest, however, in discovering a legal way -- a line item, or something -- to simply designate that I want my tax payments taken out of the unjust war category and placed into the peace category.
Over my years of searching, I've reached impasse, at various stages, and I've given up in futility, at least for a season. When I'd asked intelligent people for help, they'd make general references to the Quakers or the Mennonites or the Constitutional "lay and levy" approach. I even met with some of the guys at the tax resistance club down at the local Long Branch.That was worse than cyber-dating. The gun racks on the backs of their pick-ups didn't bother me as much as the amount of alcohol they wanted me to imbibe. I could just picture it all: a cowboy belt on its last notch strapped below my waist, holding up a pregnant-looking beer belly -- as I waddled --being toted off to jail -- alongside the federales-- for non-payment of my taxes, without a plan or a prayer. As my confessor has repeatedly urged, "Consider your life, child."
Another angle I heard about just popped into mind. There was a "minister" out here in California a while back who preached about how to register yourself as a church, hence a tax-exempt organization. That didn't work for me. As a Catholic, I was not about to begin impersonating the Holy See, to say nothing of becoming closely associated with beer guzzlers with guns who don't pay their taxes for "constitutional" reasons. I was losing focus. Being fastidious in my better moments, one year I actually took the bull by the horns and checked with the IRS personally. I called them up on their 800 line, waited on hold for 45 minutes, and asked my question. The telephonic advisor patiently cited chapter and verse from US Tax Code. I don't remember it all, my eyes started to glaze over, but the words "frivolous returns" are emblazoned upon my conscience. So, I was again stuck, and I needed to lie down. Until yesterday.I finally got a lead which led to another lead which led to something I think I can live with. With a hat tip to stwriley, Professor of History and military historian over at Daily Kos, I am able to put together a few resources for a new (though still tiny) section of Impeachment Watch: War Tax-Protest.
Overview
Here is the article provided to me by stwriley. It is from the New Standard. It covers the big picture, offering mainly a "how-to" about the use of tax-protests against the Iraq war. Though the article is dated 2005, stwriley indicates that, as far as he can tell, none of the relevant data have changed.
BTW, Wiki's entry on the historical background of the Tax Resistance Movement can be accessed here.
Approach 1: Phone Tax Resistance
Description: Hang Up On War
From New Standard:The most common approach is phone tax resistance, which simply means deducting the 3 percent federal excise tax itemized on most telephone bills. The federal excise tax has been associated with war throughout most of its history. First imposed on toll calls in 1898 during the Spanish-American war era, it was removed in 1902. During World War I it was re-imposed as a temporary tax, and continued to tax telephone use in order to raise additional funds for wars from World War II through Vietnam. In 1990, the tax became permanent and was set at 3 percent.
From NWTRCC:
While the federal tax on your monthly telephone bill is relatively small, this tax raised $89 billion from 1966 to 2001, and about $6 billion per year since. As more and more people refuse to pay this tax to protest and resist the policies outlined above, we will be sending Washington an increasingly strong message that cannot be ignored, a message backed by our action.How To Refuse the Phone Tax here.
Approach 2: The Peace Tax Return -- Pay Under Protest (Part A)
Of interest to me this year is The Peace Tax Return offered by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee here and here. The NWTRCC provides the following form to protest paying taxes for war (Part A). It is downloadable in pdf format here.
To the IRS and Elected Officials:
I am horrified by the amount of my tax dollars being used for war. Every month as much as $12 billion is being spent on the unjust war and occupation in Iraq. Each year at least half of our tax dollars are used to pay for current and past wars. If instead this money were invested in peace initiatives and aid programs we could truly build a better and more secure world.
I request that the part of my taxes used for military purposes be diverted to nonmilitary programs.Signature
Date
Name
Address
City State ZipIs this form illegal? According to the NWTRCC:
You have the right to protest actions by the government with which you do not agree. Using this form is an exercise of your freedom of speech. (See the next section B regarding refusal to pay taxes.) The IRS regulations state that you should not write messages on their official forms, such as the 1040 form. There is no policy against enclosing a note or letter of protest. War tax resisters have many years of experience with this. At times the IRS has disregarded its own regulations and charged people who send enclosures with their tax returns with a “frivolous filing fee” of $500. IRS attempts to impose this fine can be protested successfully. Option: send your peace tax form or protest letter in a separate envelope.
Approach 3: Is Not Legal -- The Peace Tax Return --Refusal to Pay Taxes (Part B)
An act of civil disobedience, descriptions of this approach appear in both the New Standard article and in section B of the Peace Tax Return cited above. A description of an escrow scenario offered by the Seattle-based Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia is here. NACC is an affiliate of the War Resisters League:
Believing war to be a crime against humanity, the War Resisters League, founded in 1923, advocates Ghandian nonviolence as the method for creating a democratic society free of war, racism, sexism, and human exploitation.
The NACC offers an escrow account to help support those who refuse to pay for war:
NACC's Conscience and Military Tax Campaign (CMTC) Escrow Account has worked since 1979 to assert U.S. taxpayers' rights of conscience. The account helps to support those who refuse to pay for war and preparations for war, and who wish for their taxes to be used only for peaceful, life-affirming purposes.
NACC maintains an office in Seattle; from which it administers the Escrow Account; makes grants to local, national, and international community groups from the interest accruing to the account; counsels War Tax Resisters and prospective War Tax Resisters; conducts War Tax Resistance workshops; responds to WTR inquiries from the media and the general public; and publishes a biannual newsletter and WTR-related literature. NACC supports passage of the Peace Tax Fund Bill through Congress, and is an affiliate of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC), and the War Resisters League (WRL).For the Peaceful Return of our Brave Soldiers,
Ticia
NB: Disclaimer: Students, Friends, and Fellow Citizens, I have zero first-hand experience with tax resistance. I am neither a lawyer nor a tax professional. I have zero experience or affiliation with the persons and organizations cited in this post, except my diary and comments over at Daily Kos. In this writing, I offer only an informational report and my own perspective, but I am not qualified to advise you, nor do I accept any responsibility for what you may choose to do with this information. Kindly do your own research and take responsibility for your own actions. Thanks, T.
