NWTRCC is surveying tax resisters, former tax resisters, and prospective tax resisters to try to get a better idea of who they’re trying to reach. Alas, taking the survey means downloading a PDF, printing it out, filling it out longhand, and sending it back through the mail, which will probably cut down on participation in this point-and-click age. If you want to participate, you can download the survey from NWTRCC’s website.
Another month, another letter from the IRS. According to their records, I still owe them $793.40, to which they have added a penalty of $3.84 and interest of $5.35.
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- How you can resist funding the government → a survey of tactics of historical tax resistance campaigns → conduct surveys to gauge support → NWTRCC surveys
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- Robert Randall reports from the NWTRCC strategy conference last weekend. Also: wasn’t there a big peace parade just last month? I ain’t a-marchin’ anymore!
- More news from NWTRCC’s national meeting in Las Vegas last weekend. Also: Dave Ridley gets cited for “Distribution of Handbills” after leafletting the I.R.S. office in Nashua, New Hampshire.
- NWTRCC’s video contest begins. Also: Albert Jay Nock on anarchist ethics. And: war tax resisters find a receptive audience at the School of the Americas Watch protest in Georgia earlier this month.
- A survey of anti-war activists reveals a surprising ignorance about war tax resistance, but an encouraging willingness to give it a try. A one-year, large-scale, organized tax strike may be in the cards.
- Surveying people who used to be war tax resisters: why did they stop? would they be willing to start up again if they were among thousands of others engaging in an anti-war tax strike?
- 286 war tax resisters are surveyed about their attitudes and their demographics. Meet your typical war tax resister: she’s middle-aged, white, single, childless, non-Christian, with a graduate degree, has been resisting for over a decade, and redirects the money she would have given to the I.R.S. to a charitable cause.
- Results from a survey of war tax resisters. Also: My tax resistance how-to guide sees print publication (to my surprise). And: an 88-year-old sermon on why everyone ought to pay their taxes no matter what ’cuz God says so.
- 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.
- Tax resistance groups have used surveys to gauge public support and to reassure resisters that they will not be alone. Some have also tried asking people to commit to resist if a certain critical mass of people also makes such a commitment. Today I’ll give some examples of these techniques.
- When you’re trying to expand the ranks of tax resisters in your campaign, you need good educational tools. If you can be clear, thorough, and credible in demonstrating how to resist and what the consequences are likely to be, you can eliminate the biggest obstacle to the growth of your campaign. Today I’ll give a few examples of how tax resistance campaigns have dispelled ignorance about tax resistance.
- How you can resist funding the government → my tax resistance → nastygrams from the IRS
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- I got a letter from the I.R.S., so it’s time to look at the interest and penalties and do some math.
- 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.
- The next NWTRCC national gathering will be in early May in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Also: time to start planning your “Tax Day” actions. And: three months ago the I.R.S. sent me a “final notice of intent to levy” letter. Since then, nothing. What gives?
- 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.
- How you can resist funding the government → about the IRS and U.S. tax law/policy → how the government deals with tax resisters → interest and penalties for failure to pay
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- ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
- I got a letter from the I.R.S., so it’s time to look at the interest and penalties and do some math.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cashing in your retirement accounts early and stashing the cash is a risky, high-commitment tax resistance tactic. Here’s the story of one blogger who’s started down that path.
- The I.R.S. is systematically miscalculating its “failure to pay” penalty, and only calculates interest correctly about two times out of three, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate.
- 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.
