In this presentation he gives an overview of the history of war tax
resistance, both in its global roots and in its recent manifestations in the
United States. Using audience participation, the session looks at the place
of war tax resistance as a tool within larger struggles, looks at a variety
of resistance strategies, and explores common myths. Vodnick also looks at
war tax resistance from an anarchist perspective. This workshop is aimed at
bringing some of the wisdom and experience of the war tax resistance movement
to those of us involved in struggles such as the anti-corporate-globalization
movement.
Some of the results may be of interest to the tax resistance movement as it
tries to refine its message or gauge how receptive people are to resistance.
For instance, the survey asked people what steps they had taken in the past
year to avoid taxes. “28 percent said they had bought something over the
Internet rather than from a local store, 25 percent said they gave more to
charity, and 14 percent said they crossed a border to shop in a neighboring
area with lower taxes… Another 8 percent said they had worked fewer hours or
overtime to avoid higher tax bills.”
A majority of those surveyed believe their federal tax burden is too high, and
two-thirds rate the value of the services they received from the government in
return as only fair or poor.
People seem to be cynical about the alleged progressivity of the tax system.
When asked “all things considered, who do you think pays more in federal
income taxes each year as a percentage of income, you or millionaire Donald
Trump?” 59% of those surveyed thought they probably paid a higher percentage
than The Donald.
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