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.

Motives

Tax resisters are typically motivated by disagreement with the policies of the government or institution that is collecting the tax.

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For some, this may include opposing that government or institution entirely, and not just specific policies (for instance, Gandhi?s opposition to British Imperial rule). Anarchists who resist taxes oppose anybody or any institution that demands tribute. Christian anarchists in the pacifist tradition resist taxes from any government that funds a violent civil defence force or military.

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Some radical democrats suggest that a right to deny tax payments is in the spirit of democracy, giving people a veto right and forcing government spending to be done with the consent of the governed.

Related Topics:
Democracy - Veto

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What a tax resister hopes to accomplish may be personal or political or some combination of the two:

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• Some tax resisters want to ?wash their hands? of complicity in immoral government policies by not contributing to funding them.
• Some resist taxes as a form of protest that communicates the strength of their opposition through an act of civil disobedience.
• Some see tax resistance as a form of nonviolent political force ? cutting off funds from the government as part of a campaign to force concessions from that government or to cause it to relinquish control.