Permanent Tourists, Prior Taxpayers, Passing Through, Parked Temporarily

The folks over at MetaFilter reminded me of the “Permanent Tourist” (a.k.a. “Prior Taxpayer”).

In a nutshell, a PT merely arranges his or her paperwork in such a way that all governments consider him a tourist. A person who is just “Passing Through.” The advantage is that being thought of by government officials as a person who is merely “Parked Temporarily,” a PT is not subjected to taxes, military service, lawsuits, or persecution for partaking in innocent but forbidden pursuits or pleasures.

I’m sure there are disadvantages to being a refugee without a country, too, but it seems to fit some people just fine, and there’s a heartstring of mine that tends to hum in harmonic sympathy when the topic comes up.

Of course, Uncle Sam wants to get his hands on his share of your money no matter where you earn it, so this is no panacaea (or, anyway, you’ve gotta stay on guard).

The War Resisters International bulletin — The Broken Rifle — mentions that it started to support the war tax resistance of its staff in the wake of the “war on terror” and notes that the 12^th International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns is coming up in Manchester next month.

For more info on the conference, take a look at its website.

The New York-based Gay City News has printed a letter-to-the-editor from John Bisceglia who is resisting taxes to protest the government’s refusal to give legal recognition to same-sex marriages. “For many in the LGBT community, we have lost all patience with both voters and politicians when it comes to justice and common decency concerning our families, so we are doing what we can do — withholding tax until we are treated equally.”