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How you can resist funding the government →
my tax resistance →
nastygrams from the IRS ▶
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 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. 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 home-buyer 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 walk-through 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. The tax resistance movement for Catalan independence grows. Also: The I.R.S. is becoming increasingly loathed. And: Learn about Offices of Economic Disobedience (if you understand Spanish). Also: I get another letter from the I.R.S. Here’s the plan on how to take money from the government by gaming Obamacare. Also: a dispatch from the war tax resistance campaign in Nicaragua in 1909. And: I have some personal experience with today’s more-glacial-than-usual I.R.S. “customer” service. The I.R.S. sends me five very bland letters. Also: American “peace church” representatives confer about how to revitalize war tax resistance in their congregations. I just got another letter from the I.R.S. (ho hum). Meanwhile, the agency tells Congress that budget cuts mean will prevent it from collecting $3 billion that it would otherwise be able to bring in through its enforcement mechanisms. The I.R.S. sent me six letters the other day to remind me that I’ve neglected to write them a check. I get a letter from the I.R.S. about my recent unpaid tax bill… what’s that −$12 all about? Also: the for-novelty-use-only I.R.S. “Taxpayer Bill of Rights.” And: BBC Radio 4 looks at tax avoiders in English history. I sign for a scaaaary Certified letter from the I.R.S., but it’s just the usual notice of intent to levy they send me every year. I get another letter from the I.R.S. Also: the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship or residency continues to rise. And: tax day reflections from Bryan Caplan, war tax resistance news from Spain & Catalonia, a war tax redirection ceremony in San Diego, Raul Perez is making a documentary film about his attempt to get U.S. courts to recognize a right to conscientious objection to military spending, and more… Today I got a letter from the I.R.S. dated one week in the future. And that wasn’t the most confusing thing about it. Also: the tax resistance of Litmus A Freeman. And: retaliating against ticket inspectors in Greece. Also: fake banknotes act as bribe-deterrents in India. Eight letters from the I.R.S. today as my tax resistance approaches two important milestones. Also: a war tax resistance concert in Maine, Gloria Steinem doubles down on tax resistance as a tactic for overturning Republican budget priorities, war tax resisters who have successfully used the Fifth Amendment in their battles with the government, and U.S. drone resisters convince a jury they were acting lawfully. I am freshly back from Mexico, where the craft beer renaissance has finally arrived. And despite my more than $50,000 of overdue federal taxes, I didn’t get hassled at the border coming back in, for what that’s worth. While I was away, NWTRCC held its Spring national gathering, and the I.R.S. sent me a letter. More details about the new U.S. government policy of denying passports to (or rescinding them from) people who owe more than $50,000 in back taxes. The I.R.S. sent me a new sort of letter today telling me that my account “has been assigned for enforcement action.” Precedent suggests that they may now ramp up their attempts to find assets to seize. The I.R.S. has finally gotten around to filing a federal tax lien against me. This gives us an opportunity to get a closer look at the process, and some of its surprises. War tax resisters from around the country met in Los Angeles last weekend to discuss strategy and the state of the movement. Also: I get another letter from the I.R.S. Excerpts from the Friends Bulletin archives show how war tax resistance was being discussed among Quakers on the West Coast of North America toward the end of the 20th Century. Also: I get another nasty letter from the I.R.S. A call to strengthen tax resistance in Nicaragua, evading tobacco taxes in California, smashing ticket cameras, blue states fighting back against federal taxes, computer security at the I.R.S. is a mess, Catalan war tax resistance grows, a new call for tax resistance in Sri Lanka, and I get another letter from the I.R.S. The I.R.S. sent me nine envelopes yesterday, one for each tax year they’re pursuing me for. Also: a U.S. anti-abortion tax resister has a court victory, Ruth Benn examines I.R.S. enforcement at a time of agency stress, California conservatives consider a tax strike, traffic ticket camera destruction continues worldwide, and more international tax resistance news. Switch to bitcoin to defund the war machine? Also: tax resistance news from Nicaragua, Indonesia, New Zealand, France, and Germany. And: the I.R.S. is redesigning its W-4 form, auditing much fewer wealthy people, and sometimes finding itself frustrated by bankrupt tax scofflaws. Today the I.R.S. informed me that it had “certified” to the U.S. State Department that I have a “seriously delinquent federal tax debt.” By law this means the State Department is not supposed to issue me a passport or renew an existing one, and it could even choose to revoke the one I hold. I get another letter from the I.R.S. The Mennonite Church considers a new proposal on war tax redirection. Former official Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson starts a private nonprofit Center for Taxpayer Rights. And the international guerrilla uprising against traffic ticket robots continues. The I.R.S. filed another tax lien against me. The last two didn’t seem to make any difference, so I don’t expect much from this one. Also: videos from the recent international conference on war tax resistance and peace tax campaigns. And: more dispatches from the human war on traffic ticket generating camera robots. I got nine separate letters from the I.R.S. today, in a vivid demonstration of government waste. Also: tax strikers on the march in South Kivu, a varied arsenal attacks traffic ticket radars across Europe, and a new tax redirection campaign for Catalan independence. The I.R.S. sends me its usual annual Notice of Intent to Levy letter… but several months later than usual this year. Also: War tax resister Ilene Roizman talks about the trade-offs of various approaches to getting health insurance as a non-filer. And: I’ve started writing a series of articles about virtue ethics and particular virtues. The I.R.S. sends me another eight letters (yawn). Also: boycotts target the military coup in Myanmar. And the human battle against the traffic ticket robots continues. I got a peculiar letter from the I.R.S. yesterday. It confirms that my unpaid taxes for tax year 2010 have passed their collection deadline and are permanently out of the agency’s reach, and it also suggests they haven’t gotten around to processing the returns I filed more than a year ago. In other news: Truthout interviewed war tax resister Howard Waitzkin. The I.R.S. sends me a peculiarly-timed Final Balance Due Reminder, indirectly giving more evidence of the disarray in their bureaucracy. The I.R.S. sends me another nine letters (yawn). This probably indicates that they have lost hope about collecting the oldest year of my tax debt, as the last seconds tick off the statute of limitations clock.
