Every year, somewhere between February and mid-April, sweet thoughts of indulgent write-offs and sneaky loopholes tickle the American taxpayer’s fancy. For most of us, these thoughts have their root in a Jeffersonian disdain for federal governance, or plain old-fashioned greed. But for some, tax resistance is a way of making a political statement, a way as old as taxation itself.
The War Resisters League has been advocating war tax resistance and other forms of pacifist action since 1923. The nonprofit has an extensive section dedicated to tax resistance on its website, and has published a handbook on the subject. While it may be too late this year for most of us to make a statement on the war in Iraq by withholding tax dollars, there’s always next year. And perhaps many years to come, depending on the upcoming presidential election.
