Tax resistance

A tax resister resists or refuses payment of a tax because of opposition to the institution collecting the tax. Often tax resistance comes from pacifists, conscientious objectors or members of religious groups, such as the Quakers, who choose not to fund violent government activities. It has also been a technique used by nonviolent resistance movements, such as India's campaign for independence led by Mahatma Gandhi.

Methods

There are many methods of tax resistance. In war tax resistance circles in the United States it is sometimes remarked that there are as many ways to practice tax resistance as there are resisters.

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Redirection

Some tax resisters refuse to pay all or a portion of the taxes due, but make an equivalent donation to charity. In this way, they demonstrate that the intent of their resistance is not selfish and that they want to use a portion of their earnings to contribute to the common good.

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For instance, Julia Butterfly Hill resisted about $150,000 in federal taxes, and donated that money to after school programs, arts and cultural programs, community gardens, programs for Native Americans, alternatives to incarceration, and environmental protection programs. She said:

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:I actually take the money that the IRS says goes to them and I give it to the places where our taxes should be going. And 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.?http://www.sniggle.net/Experiment/index.php?entry=10Sep05

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Refusing specific taxes

Some resisters resist only certain taxes, either because those taxes are especially noxious to them, or because they present a useful symbolic target, or because they are more easily resisted.

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For instance, in the United States, many war tax resisters resist the federal telephone excise tax. Because this tax is typically small resistance very rarely triggers significant government retaliation. This form of resistance is popular in part because of its relative safety. Also, the phone tax was initiated to pay for the Spanish-American War and has frequently been raised or extended by the government during times of war, so it is an attractive symbolic target as a ?war tax?.

Related Topics:
United States - Spanish-American War

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Refusing to pay

The most dramatic and characteristic method of tax resistance is to refuse to pay a tax ? either by quietly ignoring the tax bill or by ostentatiously declaring the intent not to pay.

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Some tax resisters resist only a portion of the taxes due. For instance, some war tax resisters refuse to pay a percentage of their taxes equivalent to the military percentage of the government?s budget.

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Other resisters withhold a symbolic amount ? for instance, in the United States, some might hold back $17.76 (symbolic of the revolutionary year 1776) or $10.40 (in tribute to the ?1040 form? used in federal income tax returns).

Related Topics:
United States - 1776 - ?1040 form?

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Paying under protest

Some taxpayers pay their taxes, but include protest letters along with their tax forms. Others pay in a protesting form ? for instance, by writing their check on a toilet seat or a mock-up of a missile. Others pay in a way that creates inconvenience for the collector ? for instance, by paying the entire amount in low-denomination coins.

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Tax avoidance

A resister may lower the tax due by using legal tax avoidance techniques. For instance, one way to lower the tax due is by changing one?s tax status through incorporation, or establishing an offshore company, trust or foundation in a tax haven.

Related Topics:
Tax avoidance - Incorporation - Offshore company - Tax haven

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Other tax resisters change their lives and lifestyles so that they owe less tax. For instance; to avoid an excise tax on alcohol, a resister might home-brew beer; to avoid excise taxes on gasoline, a resister might take up bicycling; to reduce income tax, a resister might choose to reduce their tax liability through simple living and bartering; and so forth.

Related Topics:
Home-brew beer - Bicycling - Income tax - Simple living - Barter

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Some have suggested the term ?tax avoision? for these methods of resisting taxes. They differ from tax avoidance in that the goal is to pay as little tax as possible rather than to keep as much post-tax income as possible, and they differ from tax evasion in that they stay within the tax laws.

Related Topics:
Tax avoidance - Tax evasion

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Tax evasion

A resister may lower the tax due through illegal tax evasion. For instance, one way to avoid the income tax is to participate in the underground economy ? earning money that is never declared to the government.

Related Topics:
Tax evasion - Underground economy

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