The Picket Line — 8 February 2009

A new issue of NWTRCC’s newsletter, More Than a Paycheck, is out. This issue includes a debate about whether or not NWTRCC should endorse the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill

The I.R.S. made three corrections to my tax return this year. All of them were in my favor. Two baffle me, and one embarrasses me. Tax returns are difficult. Also: the skinny on this year’s upcoming “Tax Day” actions.

U.S. military spending has about doubled in real terms over the last ten years. Obama’s budget calls for even more military spending — the highest Pentagon price tag yet. So, of course, the American Friends Service Committee and other liberal groups are all for it.

Help me to prepare a budget-priorities bar chart for Tax Day. Also: an anonymous war tax resister tells of her twenty years of staying one step ahead of the I.R.S.

Father Louis Vitale resists criminal fines and Tim DeChristopher disrupts a government auction — two unusual ways of getting between the government and its revenue. Also: another graphical representation of federal discretionary spending priorities. And: putting the “Tea Party” tax day protests in historical context.

A review of Kevin Carson’s “Studies in Mutualist Political Economy.” Also: another bar-chart visualization of federal discretionary budget priorities. And: Julia & Abby Smith’s house still stands (and is a national historic landmark).

This tax day, along with the war tax resisters and tea baggers, there’ll be folks protesting that gays and lesbians are still paying for a first-class ticket with their taxes but getting a second-class citizenship in return. Also: the torture of tens of thousands with long-term solitary confinement, arguments for tax resistance, liberals deprecating dissent, students playing Bartleby on standardized tests, and more about this year’s tax day protests.

Just how non-partisan are these “tea party” protests? Also: a review of the documentary “Garbage Warrior.” And: a flashback to the imperial media belittling of Gandhi’s civil disobedience campaigns.

Some early photos from Tax Day actions in San Francisco.

Some photos and impressions of the “Tea Party” in San Francisco yesterday.

A Tax Day round-up: penny polls and other war tax resistance actions, interviews and profiles of war tax resisters, reactions to the “Tea Party” phenomenon, gay and lesbian tax resistance, a conservative call for an anti-war/anti-tax convergence, a columnist notes how easy it is to get away with not filing your taxes, I.R.S. employees pissed off that their boss got away with the sort of tax evasion that would get them fired, contractors in the I.R.S. mail room caught stealing the government’s stolen money, and Joe the Plumber’s 1-900 fair tax trainwreck.

More tax day action reflections from the media and from participants. Also: was Jesus joking when he said “Render unto Cæsar”? And: how much does it cost the I.R.S. to pursue a criminal tax case?

Arrests, pepper spray, and more tension than typical at the Tax Day anti-war protest at the I.R.S. office in Rochester, New York. Also: a tax professor weighs in on the ambiguous tax law surrounding alternative currencies.

Mary Theroux cuts off the government for breach of contract. Also: Charles Madigan throws down the gauntlet to the Tea Party protesters. And: news about the next international war tax resistance conference, eating sustainably and ethically on a food-stamp budget, and how thinking you’re a good person can be a substitute for being one.

I report back from the Spring NWTRCC national gathering in Virginia.

A whole buncha links: updates on the Peace Tax Seven, the U.S. torture policy, San Francisco’s Tea Party, E.I.T.C. fraud, the upcoming military budget, tax resistance during the Great Depression, underground economy as tax resistance, war tax resistance in the Basque country, getting creative with traditional-to-Roth IRA transfers, and when it comes to war crimes saying you were just following orders is no excuse (says Dubya).

A call for war tax resistance from Colombia. Also: a libertarian peacenik tries to bridge the peace movement / tea party divide. And: the I.R.S. again levies a bank account I closed a long time ago.

A new issue of NWTRCC’s newsletter is out. Also: an update on the I.R.S.’s software modernization efforts — after years of missing deadlines and blowing budgets, it looks like they’re throwing in the towel.

Some notes and photos from the first full day of the NWTRCC National Gathering in Cleveland, Ohio. Also: Aristotle continues to try to understand self-control and its absence, and contrasts his view with that of Socrates. Does this have anything to do with hypocrisy?

A new issue of NWTRCC’s newsletter, More Than a Paycheck, is out. This issue includes a debate about whether or not NWTRCC should endorse the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill

Tomorrow I leave for the Spring NWTRCC national gathering in Virginia. Also: a new war tax resistance movement in Spain’s Basque country. And: a new IRS strategy booklet full of bureaucracisms and silly pictures.

I report back from the Spring NWTRCC national gathering in Virginia.

The most contentious item on the agenda at the NWTRCC Spring national gathering was our organization’s relationship with the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act and with the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, a long-time affiliate of NWTRCC, which promotes the act.

More reports from the national NWTRCC gathering earlier this month. Also: a report on the barter economy, the federal government’s vast borrowing, an update on Charles Merrill’s tax resistance court battle for same-sex marriage rights, and the civil rights movement seen as a successful (nonviolent) revolutionary insurgency.

A new issue of NWTRCC’s newsletter is out. Also: an update on the I.R.S.’s software modernization efforts — after years of missing deadlines and blowing budgets, it looks like they’re throwing in the towel.

I got a letter from the I.R.S., so it’s time to look at the interest and penalties and do some math.

NWTRCC launches a survey to try to figure out who is resisting taxes, who used to be, and who is thinking about it. Here’s how to participate. Also: the I.R.S. sends me another nag letter about what I haven’t paid and how much interest & penalties they’re adding.

The retirement savings tax credit — that miracle Form 8880 that I rely on to stay under the tax line — has been extended indefinitely by Congress (whew! it was due to expire this year). Also: I report back from a San Francisco spokescouncil that is planning civil disobedience at Bechtel’s headquarters tomorrow. And: another month, another notice from the I.R.S., this time with boldface.

Another month, another notice from the I.R.S. — this time sent certified mail, with signature required upon delivery, and featuring boldface, underlining and multiple exclamation points.

My first letter from the I.R.S. since last Fall lets me know how the interest and penalties are accumulating. Also: I conclude my review of Arne Johan Vetlesen’s “Evil and Human Agency” as he examines bystanders and third parties and I wonder why I don’t care about the people being massacred in Darfur.

I got another letter from the I.R.S. today asking for that money I refused to give them last April. Also: another “mysterious white powder” incident shuts down an I.R.S. mailroom.

Two certified letters from the I.R.S. arrived today, spelling out how much they want from me, so I tally up the interest and penalties.

The I.R.S. finally sends me their “Final Notice of Intent to Levy” — for what that’s worth. Also: Happy 25th Birthday to the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

For the first time, I respond to one of the I.R.S.’s “so when you gonna cough up the money” letters… and in return, I get a form letter.

Another letter from the I.R.S. breaks the previous desperation-to-information ratio record. Also: protesters from the Erie Peace Initiative are imprisoned for refusing to pay their fines. And: Abbie Coburn discusses war tax resistance as engaged Christianity.

The I.R.S. sends me their first quasi-personal bit of mail, but it turns out to be a strange data dump that leaves me scratching my head.

The I.R.S. sends me a “Copy of Notice of Levy” indicating that they’ve demanded that Wells Fargo hand over everything I have in my bank account. But the joke’s on them.

I got another letter from the I.R.S. — in this one they surprise me with the news that I “overpaid” my taxes for 2005 and so they’re issuing me a refund and then snatching it back to pay my unpaid 2006 taxes. I think this just demonstrates how kludgy their software is. Also: the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirms that “the legal right of a taxpayer to decrease the amount of what otherwise would be his taxes, or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted.”

Another letter from the I.R.S., and it’s a weird one. For some reason, they seem to have decided that I don’t qualify for the $3,400 personal exemption that everybody else (except dependents) qualifies for. As far as I can tell this is just some arbitrary glitch and won’t end up meaning anything, but I’m having a hard time getting any answers from the agency. Also: I’m going to the NWTRCC national in Birmingham next month.

I try to call the I.R.S. again to ask about my suspicion that someone, somewhere has invalidly claimed me as a dependent on their tax return. After 30 minutes of “please press such-and-such” and the Nutcracker Suite and reminders of how important my call is, the helpful agent doesn’t know how many exemptions I have in my current tax record, doesn’t know why their on-line service thinks someone else claims me as a dependent, and doesn’t know if my 1040x has been received and processed.

If you couldn’t make it to the NWTRCC conference in Birmingham, you can find the next best thing on-line. Also: Another notice from the I.R.S. (ho hum). And: James Bowden and Isaac Zane complained that during the American Revolution, Quakers got it from both sides — the British and the rebels — due to their refusal to support the militaries. Also: the story of John Cowgill, who was paraded through town with a sign on his back and subjected to other reprisals after he refused to use the Continental currency.

I get another notice of levy, and pause to try and come up with the lessons learned so far from my experience with the levy process. Also: new tax resistance rumblings from Malaysia.

The I.R.S. tells me they’ve finally processed my amended tax return from last April to uncorrect the mistaken “correction” they made to the 1040 I originally filed.

The Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act would increase taxpayer support of the military and would be a terrible blow to American conscientious objectors to military taxation — why do so many war tax resisters support it? Also: another letter from the I.R.S.

Another “final notice of intent to levy” from the I.R.S. Also: a self-loathing tax resister grovels at veterans for Armistice Day. And: a Defense Department panel presses for big cuts in military spending (uh, wha?!). Also: with the Democrats taking over, the pro-lifers are contemplating tax resistance.

After a long period of quiet, I get another letter from the I.R.S. Also: To what extent do we need to respect common sense popular views about things in order to conduct good philosophy? Are pleasure and pain like opposing vices, with a virtuous state somewhere between? Or are the hedonists right after all?

I got my first letter from the I.R.S. this year… and a second letter the same day. One was surprising. Also: Ralph Shinaberry said if the government thinks it can tell him what and how much to grow on his farm, they might as well be the owners, and they can pay their own damn taxes. So the government auctioned off 1/264th of it.

I got an “Urgent!!,” certified letter from the I.R.S. today. If it’s anything like the first “Urgent!!” letter they sent me, I’ve got about 15 months to think about it before they make their next move.

More information about how to renounce your citizenship and get out of Dodge. Also: Larry Dansinger on the Frank Donnelly case, Carl Kline on war tax resistance as an antidepressant for frustrated activists, and 1,295 prisoners got the first-time homebuyer tax credit during their stay in the big house. And: I get another letter from the I.R.S.

I got a letter from the I.R.S. while I was away. Also: John O’Hagan went to jail indefinitely rather than pay a $1 poll tax he felt was unconstitutional, in New Jersey in 1907.

A letter from the I.R.S. and another from imprisoned war tax resister Frank Donnelly. Also: Inland Revenue is threatening to seize assets from War Resisters International in response to that organization’s policy of tax resistance.

I get another letter from the I.R.S. Also: the NWTRCC-produced war tax resistance documentary “Death & Taxes” is now viewable on-line.

I got a letter from the I.R.S. yesterday… seems they noticed I forgot to enclose a check with my return. Also: An overview of some of the late-Vietnam-era war tax resisters in the United States.

Last weekend was the Spring 2001 national gathering of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. The I.R.S. celebrated the occasion by sending me a couple of letters.

Another day, another letter from the I.R.S. A new design and nicer font, but not much else has changed since my last “Notice of intent to levy” letter.

The I.R.S. tallies up my interest and penalties for me and sends me three letters detailing the charges. Here is my summary of what they’re after me for and how well they’ve done at getting at it so far.

The I.R.S. notices that I neglected to write them a check last month. Also: some council tax rebels in England get organized and make demands.

I got another letter from the I.R.S. Also, Hut Tax resistance in Swaziland in 1903–7, and social security tax resistance from an English Duchess in 1912.

After a nearly nine-month drought, I got four letters from the I.R.S. today about the taxes they still hope I’ll pay.

I ordered my “tax account transcripts” from the I.R.S. Here is a walkthrough of one of them that shows some of the actions they have taken to try to collect my 2007 taxes. Also: Francis & Valerie Riggs were American war tax resisters in the 1940s.

A pointer to the Bureaucrash tax protest group. Also: a profile of a San Francisco tax evader.

Details emerge about the new Medicare bill’s tax-free Health Savings Accounts. Also: How to be a permanent tourist, what does the I.R.S. think of Julia Butterfly Hill’s record tax resistance, and why did Thoreau go to jail when the law said he should have had his property seized instead?

An update in the legal battle between the I.R.S. and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Quakers). Also: The Dubya Squad are starting to back off just a bit from their “torture is okay when we do it” stand, and they’ve released more White House documents to try to make the case that it’s not as bad as it seems.

The I.R.S. is cracking down on war tax resisters in Austin, Texas, but it isn’t yet clear whether this is coincidence or the signal of a larger policy change. Also: U.S. deserters, refuseniks, and “stop-loss” protesters are making the news. And: Arundhati Roy tells us that spectacle will only get us so far in the fight between people and empire.

Michael Neumann recounts how terrorism kept from going out of style. Also: Some opposition to Alberto “Obsolete & Quaint” Gonzales emerges (no, not among the Senate Democrats, silly). And: Tolstoy says we should stop listening to the endless liberal blah-blah and instead strike at the root of government power (with tax resistance!)

The Austin Conscientious Objectors to Military Taxation continue their impressive media sweep. Also: in 2002, a hundred million taxpayers gave interest-free loans to the federal government — do you think maybe they could be convinced that this is a bad idea?

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejects withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Also: an I.R.S. lawyer takes an interest in The Picket Line.

Is advocating war tax resistance the same as “promoting tax evasion schemes” and if so, could the government shut down organizations that promote war tax resistance and seize their membership rolls? What about tax resisters’ “alternative funds”? Are they a variety of “warehouse bank” vulnerable to wholesale seizure by the government?

If you refuse to pay the I.R.S., or refuse to file a return, that’s one thing. But if you tell the I.R.S. why you’re refusing, that may cost you $5,000. The agency seems to be getting more aggressive in sending out “frivolous filing” warning letters.

A war tax boycott participant tells how when their mother reacted in horror to their resistance, this became a good opportunity to teach her grandchildren about the importance of standing up for your beliefs. Also: I.R.S. enforcement numbers have dropped: less collections, fewer audits, and fewer enforcement personnel.

Today, it’s almost embarrassing how little attention the government pays to war tax resisters. Things were much different in 1971, when the government might send out a team of threatening agents to collect a $5.50 tax debt. Also: Aristotle begins to discuss the intellectual virtues, which might help him next time he goes out for breakfast.

In a 1971 article for The Progressive, Milton Mayer asks anti-war liberals why they’re still buying My Lai. Also: Aristotle discusses Art as a method for discerning a variety of truth via creation.

“Consent Withdrawn” shares the story of how he refined his tax resistance techniques as he learned more about how better to harmonize his tactics with his goals and ethical stance. It’s also an interesting look at the often odd and arbitrary actions of the I.R.S. when it encounters a tax resister.

The IRS has asked a judge to compel Cindy Sheehan to provide them with detailed financial information. She previously declined to provide such information in response to an IRS “Collection Information Statement” summons. The agency hopes to find assets they can seize for back taxes.

Two magazine articles from 1985 focused on war tax resisters Larry Bassett and Karl Meyer.

Ginny Schneider writes about navigating an IRS wage garnishment. And: Mother Jones magazine tries to guesstimate the size of the war tax resistance movement in 1987.

Cindy Sheehan vs. the IRS in federal court: round one goes to Sheehan. Andy: The federal government spends more to pay fraudulent tax refunds to identity thieves than it spends on the I.R.S. budget. Also: more tax day war tax resistance action reports. And: the I.R.S. abuses its frivolous filing penalty authority, an authority that seems designed for abuse.

Cindy Sheehan tells us what happened when she went up against the I.R.S. in federal court.

Cindy Sheehan faces down I.R.S. interrogators. Also: A couple of notes from some of the war tax riots in Spain in 1900.

When Nixon got caught using the IRS to go after his political enemies, one of the consequences was that the agency — though on the cusp of victory in its battle to seize the home of war tax resister Ernest Bromley — surrendered and returned the home to its rightful owners.

Cindy Sheehan forces the I.R.S. to blink. A look inside NWTRCC’s latest newsletter. Yesterday’s “Pull the Pork (from the Pentagon)” protests. War tax resisters Francesc García Barberà and Amy Wachspress. And the I.R.S. use of civilian informers.

I ordered my “tax account transcripts” from the I.R.S. Here is a walkthrough of one of them that shows some of the actions they have taken to try to collect my 2007 taxes. Also: Francis & Valerie Riggs were American war tax resisters in the 1940s.