New National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee Newsletter

NWTRCC’s December newsletter is out. Among the news to be found therein:

• A report on the recent national gathering in Eugene
• Some news about the uptick in “frivolous filing” penalties and warnings aimed at war tax resisters
• Counseling notes including news about the new policy of allowing employers to give their employees tax-free bicycle commuting reimbursements, a reminder that if you’re given a summons to appear before the IRS you should ask for reimbursement of expenses, and a note about the “socially responsible” investment business Pax World Fund getting caught investing irresponsibly.
• International News — an update on the case of Siân Cwper that I mentioned back in October. Apparently the British revenue department is playing some strange games with the members of the Peace Tax Seven. (For more on the Peace Tax Seven, see this report on The Shrieking Violet.)
• Ideas and Actions — including a report on tax resistance for same-sex marriage rights, a report from Ed Hedemann who spoke about war tax resistance with a class of seventh-graders, and a new NWTRCC-themed scarf (perfect for fundraising at winter demonstrations).
• Notes about updated literature — including the booklet War Tax Resisters and the IRS which “gives a flow-chart style version of the risks of refusing to pay for war if the IRS notices.”
• A request for nominations for NWTRCC’s administrative committee — there will be two vacancies on the committee to fill at the May national gathering.
• A call for fundraising help particularly to help promote Steev Hise’s upcoming war tax resistance documentary
• Reflections and lessons learned by Becky Pierce — “I have been a war tax resister for the past 43 years, all of my adult working life…” This includes some useful information on IRS collection tactics, for instance how they go about hunting for assets to seize as the statute of limitations closes in and they start to get desperate.

The newsletter article about frivolous filing penalties mentioned that “in 1984 after the IRS instituted the ‘frivolous’ return penalty, Karl Meyer called for a ‘cabbage patch’ response, filing a form every day for a year to defy this new policy. He was assessed $140,000 in penalties during 1984, and in February 1985 the IRS seized his station wagon in an attempt to collect on the fines. It was sold for $1,020. Karl continues staunchly to refuse to pay for war.”

Here’s how the Chicago Sun-Times covered that story back in ’84:

Tax resister mails a protest return every day

Every afternoon, Karl Meyer sits at his old cedar desk under a sign that declares “Your tax dollars arm the world!” and fills out a federal tax form.

Where the form calls for a Social Security number, he prints, “Refused — not to be used for social insecurity purposes.”

Where it instructs “Add line 1 and line 2,” he prints, “Military Spending” and adds a summary of the Pentagon’s budget.

And where it instructs “If line 8 is larger than line 9, subtract line 9 from line 8,” he prints, “I refuse to pay federal income taxes that sustain military violence in Central America and all over the world.”

Meyer, a 48-year-old Chicago carpenter, mails one such protest to the IRS each day. He never includes a check

He is one of about 76,000 Americans who will refuse this year to pay part or all of their federal income taxes. Some say taxes are unconstitutional. Some don’t have the money. And some, like Meyer, believe federal tax dollars are doing more harm than good.

“If people want us to contribute to the common good by way of paying taxes, they’ll have to find some way we can contribute without paying for the military system,” he said.

Meyer’s words are not the self-serving rhetoric of a skinflint. His 25-year history of regular jail terms for acts of civil disobedience attests to the strength of his convictions.

In 1960, after graduating from the University of Chicago, he was arrested and jailed 38 days for passing out anti-tax leaflets. Months later, he joined a 4,000-mile peace march to Moscow’s Red Square.

In 1965, he tore up his draft card and mailed the pieces to then-U.S. Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan. And in 1971, he served nine months in federal prison for filing false tax returns to protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Since Jan. 1, Meyer has filed more than 54 federal tax returns — one for each day’s average earnings of $38. The Internal Revenue Service has responded by fining him $6,000 for filing “frivolous” returns.

His wife, Kathy Kelly, a high school teacher in Chicago, also refuses to pay taxes. Instead, he said, she accepts only $8,000 of her annual $18,000 salary and tells her employer to donate the rest to charity.

Meyer, who says he has earned between $13,000 and $18,000 annually since 1975, claims the IRS has managed to collect only $168 from him since 1959. He has quit jobs and moved bank accounts to prevent further collections.

Michael McGrail, an IRS tax specialist, could not verify this claim, but confirmed that Meyer has been fined and jailed repeatedly for tax evasion.