How Bitcoin Challenges the Federal Income Tax System

The tax wonks are looking closely at this Bitcoin thing. Here’s the latest example to cross my screen: How Bitcoin Challenges the Federal Income Tax System. Here’s an excerpt:

Our tax reporting and collection system is built, among others, on the assumptions that (ⅰ) parties to a taxable transaction know each other (or can reasonably obtain information about one another and send information to each other), and (ⅱ) that there are some uniquely situated taxpayers (such as banks) that regularly collect financial information about other taxpayers in a centralized manner. The operation of Bitcoin defeats both assumptions. Parties to Bitcoin transactions do not necessarily know each other, and the operation of Bitcoin is decentralized. Thus, important assumptions that stand in the basis of our traditional collection mechanisms collapse.

Bitcoin is going through some significant growing pains at the present. A major hub in the economy that grew around the currency, Mt. Gox, has shut down amid rumors that it had lost hundreds of thousands of bitcoins that had been stored with or exchanged through its service.

It seems that making the algorithms around the currency itself impregnable was only the first part of the challenge. The next step will be developing tools of exchange and commerce that are up to the challenge of dealing with the new currency in a reliable and trustworthy manner while being accessible to the ordinary person.

The 25 February 1843 issue of the Monmouthshire Merlin did a backgrounder on the Rebeccaite phenomenon:

History of Rebecca and her Daughters.

About seven years ago a turnpike-road was made between Pembroke and Carmarthen, with the view of securing a great thoroughfare by it between Ireland and London. The Liverpool and metropolitan railway has, however, frustrated the object by leaving but 32 miles of road from Carmarthen to Hobb’s Point, or Milford, as a passage for the mail, which seldom carries more than three passengers a day. Very little thoroughfare exists along it, as a carrier goes but once a week between Carmarthen and Pembroke, by which there is not money sufficient raised to pay the interest for the capital expended, much less to keep the road in repair. The trustees have the power, by Act of Parliament, to put up toll-bars on lanes and by-roads, and also to throw the expense of the main road on the parishes; and that power they have exercised, which appears to have excited the peasantry to the late and continued acts of violence. The tollage upon the road amounts to 12s. 6d. upon each market cart for 12 miles, besides which the people have to keep the roads in repair. Rebecca has already destroyed the St. Clear, Trefechan, Prendergare, and Pime toll-gates. She also boasts of having an auxiliary force of 500 men, true and faithful, at Haverford-west. By order of the Home Secretary, the marines from Pembroke dockyard have been recalled, and the duty of pursuing the malcontents has devolved upon the Castlemarten yeomanry, who in 1798 so nobly distinguished themselves under Earl Cawdor against the French troops at Fishguard.

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How you can resist funding the government → a survey of tactics of historical tax resistance campaigns → switch to alternative currencies → Bitcoin: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦; So what’s all this fuss about “bitcoin” anyway? A mutual-aid health organization has decided to abandon the taxed above-ground economy and conduct as much of its operations as possible in this new currency. Is this the future of tax resistance?; Conservative tax resistance to protest against Obamacare. Cryptocurrencies as ideal tax havens. An I.R.S. enforcement shutdown. The war tax resistance of John Woolman. War tax resistance in a Jewish context. And French soccer goes on strike over a populist tax on million-euro salaries.; An upcoming google hangout explores how to continue to resist war after the anti-war rally ends. Also: frugal living in the service of philanthropy, more evidence the I.R.S. is falling down on the enforcement job, the tax trouble of bitcoin, and another suspicious package evacuates an IRS building.; I.R.S. follies, international tax resistance news, war tax resistance bits of note, and a couple of things about Bitcoin and nonprofits and people who renounce their U.S. citizenship — more links than you can shake a stick at.; War tax resisters to meet in Massachusetts in October. 27% of Americans pay no income or payroll tax. Separatists in Trieste launch a tax strike. An Argentine priest leads a road toll rebellion. A college student invents a chatbot that overturns $4 million in parking tickets. The I.R.S. continues to get spanked for civil forfeiture abuse. Bitcoins may be the next super tax haven. Another irate taxpayer pays his bill with bags of low-denomination money. And more news besides.; News about war tax resisters and about virtual currencies as a tax resistance option. Also: trying to track down information about John Randolph, a “seditious and scurrilous” poll tax resister from the World War Ⅰ period.; The I.R.S. takes an interest in bitcoin, South Korean activists get tax resistance advice from U.S. war tax resisters, the Greek “won’t pay” movement continues its guerrilla electrician campaign, India suffers from demonetization, and the Robin Hooders of New Hampshire score a supreme court victory.; The authoritative story about the legal consequences of federal tax noncompliance in the U.S. Plus: a flurry of news stories about war tax resisters, featuring Ed Hedemann, Robert Randall, and Ruth Benn. A boycott is targeting Trump family products. Tax agencies are trying to figure out ways to target bitcoin. And a new tax in Belarus confronts widespread noncompliance.; A new 100-day, 100-dollar campaign of tax resistance for the timid has just launched. Also: Seeing Like a State, a newfound love of federalism on the American left, profiles of Vivien Kellems and Raymond Hunthausen, and the latest on the I.R.S. versus bitcoin.; Frida Berrigan on the new wave of American tax resisters. A Stony Brook professor stops paying federal taxes. A look at how new technologies may make people harder to tax. Another case of paying-in-pennies. Greeks continue their multi-pronged attacked on government taxation. The Satyagraha Foundation looks at early Quaker war tax resistance. And Citizen Truth shares a video couch talk about war tax resistance.
Some historical and global examples of tax resistance → Wales → Rebecca riots (1839–44) → contemporary news accounts of: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦; Today, a look at the wacky, cross-dressing, Welsh tax resisters of the 1840s who called themselves “Rebecca and her daughters.”; In its December, 1843 edition, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine gave Joseph Downes several pages to twist his panties to the ripping point over his visit to Wales during the Rebecca Riots.; The National Library of Wales has created an on-line archive of Welsh newspapers, which gives us the opportunity to read about the Rebecca Riots as they happened.; Contemporary newspaper accounts of some of the early tollgate destructions of the Rebeccaite uprising of 1843.; The I.R.S. has been ramping up its use of criminal charges in tax cases. Also: a record number of people renounced their U.S. citizenship last year. And: another early account of the Rebeccaite movement.; Rebeccaites destroyed the Trevaughan toll house and gates on this date in 1843. The government announced a reward for information, and as a result thought they might have caught some of the rebels… but their case wasn’t good enough to convince a jury.; A letter from “Rebecka and childrens” outlining some of the grievances and demands of the Rebeccaites was published on this date in 1843 in the Cambrian.; A couple of early news accounts from the Rebecca Riots, one showing some of the risks of having an anonymous direct action group with no credible spokesperson or leader.; War tax resisters in Britain protest the investment of their local taxes in the military industrial complex. And: A chronologically confusing article on the Rebecca Riots from the Monmouthshire Merlin. Also: a student in Spain redirects a cash reward from the government back into the war tax resistance movement.; Erica Weiland summarizes her keynote address on Economic Disobedience and War Tax Resistance. Also: some more information from the Spanish economic disobedience movement. And: exploring the theory that the Rebeccaite tollbooth attacks were synchronized with moon phases.; The latest tax resistance news from Austria, France, Italy, Jordan, and Spain… and another dispatch from the days of the Rebeccaite rebellion.; News accounts/editorials about the tax resistance of Welsh miners in 1919, and of Rebecca Rioters in 1843.; A new issue of NWTRCC’s newsletter, including articles on tax day actions, the recent national gathering, legal updates, and a close look at the ramifications of the Affordable Care Act for war tax resisters. Also: Rebeccaites tear up a turnpike gate and throw it into the Tivy, on this date in 1843.; A contemporary newspaper account of Rebeccaite activity meshes in a chronologically awkward way with Henry Tobit Evans’s book on the movement.; On this date in 1843, “Rebecca and her daughters” attacked the Carmarthen Workhouse. This was a departure from their usual attacks on tollgates, and was an unusal development for a number of other reasons.; Some tax resistance news from Catalonia, India, and England. Also: an armchair quarterback from London gives the authorities some advice on how to handle the Rebeccaites.; With their faces painted and feathers in their hair, Rebecca and her Daughters attack tollgates in Cardigan, and make me want to take a second look at the disguises used by the Boston Tea Party raiders.; The bonnets rouges have managed to abolish the hated “écotaxe” — or at least to force the government to fall back to Plan B. This shows that a study of movements like the Rebeccaites in Wales has significance for today’s efforts.; A new website to help the distributed DIY solidarity economy, tax resister barricades in Ireland, a profile of war tax resister Jon Klein, more vermin at the IRS, and another toll gate destroyed by Rebecca.; The trusts in charge of the toll gates in Wales began to consider ways to mollify the Rebeccaites, but they were slow and reluctant to act, and Rebecca was in no mood to wait for the bureaucracy to do its thing.; The editor of the Monmouthshire Merlin tried to speak for Rebecca and articulate the various grievances that were animating the Rebeccaite movement.; The magistrates tried the classic government gambit of “forming a committee to study the problem” as a way of trying to mollify the Rebeccaites, but their patently condescending approach only infuriated Rebecca.; Tax resistance news from Venice, Catalonia, and the Canary Islands. Also: to what extent were the Rebeccaites encouraged by nonestablishment Christian church leadership?; The Monmouthshire Merlin inquires a little more deeply into the grievances of the Rebeccaites (but has to go fishing in the London Times to do so).; Bolgoed, Pumpsaint, Bronvelin, Twely-bridge, Gwarallt… the toll gates are falling rapidly as the Rebeccaite struggle kicks into high gear in the Summer of 1843.; Today we can add Llandilo-Rwnws, Mansel’s Arms, and Llanvihangel to the toll gates destroyed by the increasingly bold Rebeccaites, who also horse-whipped a stubborn toll-collector.; American war tax resistance news, featuring Ruth Benn’s visit to Milwaukee and some Catholic Worker archives, Juanita Nelson telling her stories, and a profile of S. Brian Willson. Also: is Puerto Rico a workable tax haven for Americans? And: the government sends in the troops to repress Rebecca.; A Welsh magistrate defends himself in from charges of being insufficiently eager to repress the Rebeccaites, and gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at the government’s response to the crisis.; I talk up tax resistance, tax avoidance techniques, and frugal living on the Radical Personal Finance podcast. Also: Rebecca, “dressed gaily in female attire and sporting a parasol,” supervises another tollgate demolition.; Two more news briefs from the Rebeccaite outbreak of 1843.; The Cambrian tells of the destruction of the Porthyrhyd, Pompren, Pumfold, and Pontyberem gates, the Kidwelly, Llanddarog, Rhydypandy, and Minke toll-houses, and the Bolgoed bar, as the Rebecca movement continues to grow.; The Rebecca phenomenon in Wales spurred at least one copycat tollgate attack in Ireland, as this Monmouthshire Merlin report shows.; The government brings out the military hardware and brings in their best prosecutors to try to muffle the Rebecca uprising, on this date in 1843.; The government finally gets a break in the Rebecca investigations, as an informer comes forward to finger some of Rebecca’s daughters… or maybe just to collect a reward, satisfy a grievance, and get drunk on the detectives’ dollar.; On this date in 1843, a group of Rebeccaites met and drafted some resolutions that set out their program. So now we get to hear from the Rebeccaites themselves, rather than having condescending members of the press speak on their behalf.; More tales of Rebecca, including one false alarm of unknown motives, and a case of Rebecca, or someone like her, threatening a landlord to get rents lowered.; On the 108th anniversary of the signing of the Vyborg Manifesto, some contemporary accounts of that event and its aftermath. Also: Rebecca gets her revenge on an opponent, and the toll gates continue to fall.; The trial of the accused Rebeccaites fingered by the sketchy informant John Jones begins.; Some revealing details can be found in these latest accounts of the Rebeccaite movement, as “Becca for ever!” becomes a popular (and hazardous) hurrah.; A transcript (more-or-less) of the second examination of witnesses in the alleged Rebeccaite case (and the first one the public, or even the prisoners’ attorneys, were allowed to attend).; The examination of the alleged Rebeccaites continues, and cheering throngs greet the bailed-out prisoners. Also: another tollgate-destroying spree in Cardiff in 1886.; An editorial from the Monmouthshire Merlin on this date in 1843 tells us a bit about the Rebecca movement and about public support for it (and a lot about the opinions of the editor).; News from the Rebecca Riots of 1843, and the “trade-subsidy” tax resistance in Barcelona in 1847.; A lighthearted overview of the latest news of the Rebecca uprising, from this date in 1843.; The preliminary hearing of some alleged Rebeccaites begins, with testimony including a lengthy account from a supposed witness of one of the toll gate attacks. The very evening of the trial, more gates are attacked.; The preliminary hearing of alleged Rebeccaites continues, and meanwhile there are fresh attacks at Tycoch gate, Furnace gate, Sandy gate, and several others. The Rebeccaites also start taking revenge against those cooperating with the retaliation of the authorities. Also: the government begins to eagerly show that toll-payers can indeed get some justice via “the proper channels” (while at the same time offering a reward for turning in Rebecca). And: a closer look at the corruption that led to the Rebeccaite movement.; Rebecca and her daughters, undaunted, and gathered in the hundreds, continue their tollgate-destroying spree in the face of increasingly determined efforts by the authorities to capture and try offenders.; A couple of brief notes about the Rebeccaite movement from around this date in 1843.; Some recent tax resistance news from Kenya and Italy, and another dispatch from the Rebecca Riots in Wales.; The War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund has sent out a new appeal to its subscribers. Also: the number of ex-U.S. taxpatriates continues to rise. And: what to do with this inconvenient Rebecca-informer?; Preliminary examinations of other accused Rebeccaites begin, and we can read the testimony of two tollhouse keepers who were victims of one of Rebecca’s raids.; A report that 20 people were killed and another 10 wounded after refusing to pay a “war tax” to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Also: people in Wales air their grievances, and get listened to for a change, thanks to Rebecca.; Several articles from the Spectator concerning the Annuity Tax resistance in Edinburgh spanning more than twenty-five years. Also: the Rebeccaites continue undaunted in their tollgate-destroying during the Summer of 1843.; John “Pacificus” Payne’s war tax resistance continued after his death, with his careful avoidance of inheritance tax. Also: the powers that be begin to eliminate tolls at some Welsh gates in the hopes of forestalling Rebecca.; On Sunday, the leader of a major Pakistan opposition party called for a nationwide tax strike to oust the prime minister. Also: More tales of the Rebeccaites.; More details on the planned tax strike by Italy’s Northern League. Also: Rebecca’s lawless tollgate destruction proved to be a powerful implicit bargaining chip that could be used to advantage by meeker, more law-abiding petitioners.; Rebecca moves from attacks on toll-gates to intimidation attacks against the homes of tithe collectors and other government rent-extractors. Also: a not guilty jury verdict comes down in a Rebeccaite prosecution.; A tax resistance protest of how El Paso used its city sales tax, by the National Student Association in 1969, incorporated symbolic and media-friendly tactics. Also: the Rebecca attacks continue unabated.; The authorities lay a toll-gate ambush for Rebecca and capture two Rebeccaites in the act. Also: Poles in Kingston, N.Y., killed their dogs rather than pay a dog tax in 1895.; Rebecca and Her Daughters, “in battle array… blowing their horns, shouting in triumph” defiantly parade through Pontyberem.; The London Peace Society chides the Rebeccaites for their violent ways.; An international tax resistance news round-up, with notes from italy, France, Ireland, Spain, and Greece. Also: Rebecca copycat vandals muddy the waters in Wales.; Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin calls for “A Black Tax Boycott.” Also: more hints about the progress of the Rebecca Riots found in a letter sent this date in 1843.; Several suspected Rebeccaites were captured during an attack on Pontardulais Gate. In the subsequent examination, the first witness for the prosecution was the son of one of the presiding magistrates.; An account of a Rebeccaite clash is noteworthy for its description of how the Rebeccaites used fireworks as signalling devices when coordinating their raids.; The capture of some Rebeccaites doesn’t seem to have slowed down the Rebecca movement much, but it did give some hope to the turnpike trustees.; The suspected Rebeccaites captured at Pontardulais get a chance to cross-examine their captors, who describe what it was like to ride upon a Rebeccaite tollgate attack.; Rebecca burns the barns, buildings, and produce of a Magistrate who took reprisals against her, and he is forced to flee Llanelly, as Rebecca’s fury grows.; More revealing testimony is given about two Rebeccaite attacks in which the authorities captured suspects. Also: the jury in a coroner’s inquest of a woman shot during a Rebecca attack incredibly says she died of “unknown” causes.; What do you know? The magistrates presiding over the Rebeccaite trials seem to be the same set of people who were profiting from the tollgates the Rebeccaites were destroying. No wonder Rebecca expected no justice from the authorities.; Rebecca shows she won’t be discouraged: she goes back to destroy the Pontardulais gate. Meanwhile, she cleverly sends the authorities on wild goose chases to keep them away from her. But others are starting to impersonate Rebecca to pursue their own private grievances and exploits.; The Coalition of the Radical Left, an important Greek political party, has launched a “Won’t Pay” movement, inspired by the more grassroots movement of the same name. Also: the authorities bring in a crack detective from London to hunt down Rebecca.; “It had been asked who Rebecca was. He had never seen her; but he thought that Rebecca was every man who earned his bread by the sweat of his brow.” — William Evans; Rebecca drives off the bailiffs and reseizes goods distrained from a household behind on its rent. Meanwhile, the toll farmers try to figure out how to get the taxpayers to pay for it.; The authorities keep trying to put up gates, bars, or chains at the Pontardulais bridge, and Rebecca keeps tearing them down. Also: a reward offered in the killing of Sarah Williams at the Hendy Bridge gate. And: the Oddfellows weigh in on Rebecca.; Is the Northern League crying wolf again with its tax strike? Also: The fate of one U.S. tax resister who refused to file a return. And: jailed U.S. war tax resister Joseph Olejak looks forward. Also: a communist-led tax boycott in Kerala. And: the trustees can’t tear down tollgates fast enough in Wales.; Mass meetings in Wales aired the grievances that lay behind the Rebeccaite uprising.; Rumors of impending martial law sweep South Wales as the authorities struggle to impose the force of law on the Rebeccaite uprising.; The Rebeccaite attacks continue, with fresh assaults on the Dolehirion and Cefn Llandewi gates.; The dictator of Bavaria orders Bavarians to stop paying taxes to the German Reich. And: a letter-to-the-editor shows some people had their heads in the sand about what was motivating the Rebeccaites.; A new edition of NWTRCC’s newsletter gives news, updates, and other useful information from the American war tax resistance movement. Also: Rebecca still seems undeterred.; When Utah Governor J. Bracken Lee announced his income tax resistance the papers compared him to Vivien Kellems and to war tax resister Caroline Urie. Also: Rebeccaites set fire to the property of their foes in Wales.; Ernest Bromley was jailed for resisting war taxes in the U.S. in 1942! Also: the powers that be, in a public meeting, vow to make important concessions to Rebecca… and then forget all about it when the meeting ends.; Did American Quakers refuse to take trains during World War Ⅱ because of a war tax? Also: the French “Peasant Front” launches a nationwide tax strike in 1935. And: the Queen appoints a commission of inquiry into Rebecca’s grievances.; Rebecca converts a tollhouse into a new home for a poor family. Meanwhile, the authorities continue to try to crack down on her daughters.; Philadelphia war tax resisters redirected their taxes by handing out dimes for bus fare in 1971. Also: Rebecca wins concessions from the Neath Turnpike Trust. And: tax refusal by ranchers in “Indian Territory” in 1899.; In 1978, representatives from the Brethren, Mennonites, and Quakers met at Green Lake, Wisconsin, and issued a joint “New Call to Peacemaking” that promoted war tax resistance. Also: some confusion about upcoming Rebeccaite criminal trials.; There seems to have been a small number of English names that got parceled out to the people of Wales to use in place of their Welsh names. Nearly everybody seems to be named Jones, Lewis, Davies, Morgan, Thomas, or Williams. This makes understanding the Rebeccaite news coverage difficult.; The government has a hard time getting juries to convict suspected Rebeccaites.; The grand jury deciding whether to indict several Rebeccaites, including those accused in the Pontardulais gate attack and in the attacks on the constables trying to arrest members of the Morgan family, met on this date in 1843.; Witnesses detail what happened during the Rebeccaite attack on the Pontardulais Gate during their testimony in the case against John Hughes, John Hugh, and David Jones.; John Hughes, John Hugh, and David Jones are convicted for their roles in the Pontardulais Gate attack, and several other accused Rebeccaites are indicted.; The criminal cases against several more accused Rebeccaites come to a conclusion, while Rebecca’s example stands as the “bad cop” that lets peaceful, law-abiding Welsh farmers play “good cop” and get their grievance heard.; The exiled Rebeccaite convicts publish a contrite letter, while turnpike trustees run into difficulty auctioning off the toll farming rights on Swansea district roads.; Why wont the Rebeccaites just submit their grievances through the proper channels? Well, here’s an example of what happened when they tried.; The thaw that ended the Great Forgetting in Quaker war tax resistance was largely the work of non-Quaker war tax resisters in the post-World War Ⅱ period. Also: a wet October, the convictions of some Rebeccaites, and the coming Winter dampen the Rebecca movement.; The Commission of Enquiry in the Rebeccaite disturbance meets (but bars the press) as two more toll gates are destroyed. Also: bookmakers in England went on strike over a new tax in 1926.; The tax resistance campaign known as the Ruhrkampf, in post-World War Ⅰ Germany, had economic ramifications as far away as the United States. Also: an account of an anti-Rebeccaite meeting in Wales.; Rebecca continues to intimidate the authorities who try to take action against poor people in Wales.; The state of economic inequality in Wales made the Rebecca Riots the equivalent of a slave revolt, according to this editorial from the Monmouthshire Merlin.; A rare report of tax resistance being used by the women’s suffrage movement in Germany. Also: the Rebeccaites aren’t finished yet, as the Mardy gate is the latest to fall.; Rhayader magistrates beg the military and London police to come save their tollgates from Rebecca.; The authorities try to foist the cost of Rebeccaism off on the taxpayers, and haughtily dismiss those who complain about it.; A royal commission on a fact-finding tour of South Wales investigates the causes of the Rebecca Riots.; The Friends Journal features two low-income war tax resisters telling their stories of voluntary simplicity.; The prosecutions of suspected Rebeccaites accelerate as the authorities attempt to force the lid down on the uprising.; The trials of suspected Rebeccaites continue, and an attempt is made on the life of an unpopular anti-Rebeccaite magistrate on this date in 1843.; Parts of the new tax extenders legislation are of potential interest to tax resisters, the I.R.S. is in a world of hurt from budget cuts, and Rebecca refuses to give up the ghost in Wales.; An international tax resistance round-up, with news from Ireland, Hong Kong, Italy, France, and Greece; and another dispatch from the way-back machine gives us news of a Rebecca panic in Wales.; Rebecca is not done yet. Dozens, cheering “Becca forever,” destroy gates in Glasbury. Meanwhile, common criminals hide behind Rebecca’s skirts to commit their crimes.; The Carmarthenshire Assizes begin, with hundreds of suspected Rebeccaites on trial, but the first case will be difficult to interpret, as much of the newspaper account is missing.; Some contradictory accounts of the tax resistance of American women’s suffragist activist Anna Howard Shaw. Also: a trial over a threatening letter from the Rebeccaite disturbances.; The Young Americans for Freedom refuse to pay a city tax for the privilege of publishing their newsletter in 1971. Also: John Jones not guilty of sending a threatening Rebeccaite letter.; The trials of suspected Rebeccaites continue, with mixed results, at the Carmarthenshire Winter Assizes.; Several more Rebeccaite cases were concluded at the Carmarthenshire Winter Assizes on this date in 1843.; Two Rebeccaite “outside agitators” are sentenced to terms in a foreign slave colony as the Assizes continue.; The “National Taxpayer Advocate” warns that the U.S. tax system is in danger of imploding due to “a devastating erosion of taxpayer service,” and Congressional neglect.; A fed-up Welshman hooks his team to a tollgate and pulls it apart, in a late Rebecca-inspired protest. Also: the government takes reprisals during a 1961 tax strike in Ciudad Juárez.; A number of accused Rebeccaites are convicted at the Carmarthenshire Spring Assizes on this date in 1844.; Chinese and American business students are surveyed about their attitudes about tax evasion, and a surprise jumps out from the data concerning war tax resistance.; The powers that be fall all over themselves to praise William Chambers for his role in suppressing the Rebeccaite rebellion.; The I.R.S. has rehired hundreds of workers with serious documented conduct and performance issues. Meanwhile it is trying to run a modern tax system on CoBOL software developed in the punch-card era. Also: a profile of war tax resister Bonnie Urfer.; Tax resistance from the Vietnam War era in the U.S., from the World War Ⅰ era in the Netherlands, from the Rebecca Riots period in Wales, and from the beginning of the 20th Century in “Indian Territory”; The Greek crisis may be rooted in corrupt military spending profiting the creditor nations. Also: Venezuela cracks down on tax resistance campaigning. And: tax resistance in Puerto Rico, Spain, and Belarus. Also: Rebeccaites on trial at the Pembrokeshire Spring Assizes.; Two Rebeccaites get 12-month sentences for unlawful assembly at the Pembrokeshire Spring Assizes for their participation in the Prendergast turnpike-gate action.; A newspaper accounts of early modern American war tax resisters Mr. & Mrs. Roger Drury. Also: Joan Baez’s husband comes out of prison (for draft resistance) to plug tax resistance. And: a Rebeccaite acquittal at the Cardiganshire Assizes.; Many criminal cases against captured Rebeccaites involved in tollgate destruction, interference with distraint, and the Workhouse riot, were concluded at the Carmarthenshire Spring Assizes which began on this date in 1844.; Japanese workers in Oxnard rebel against being double-taxed. Wally Nelson goes on record as a war tax resister in 1949. And another account of the Rebeccaite trials at the Carmarthenshire Assizes.; A burglary committed in Rebeccaite costume is the subject of a trial at the Carmarthenshire Spring Assizes, and the newspapers give us the prosecution’s side of the case.; A widespread, grassroots tax rebellion among women in Pennsylvania in the mid-1920s had no rallies or pickets, no petitions or manifestos, no formal organizations or meetings, and so they have mostly vanished from the historical record. Also: Several Rebeccaite cases are concluded at the Carmarthenshire Spring Assizes.; Peter Smith discusses the war tax resisters penalty fund, unions in Buenos Aires stage a general strike to protest taxes, and the I.R.S. chief complains that all of his employees are growing old and retiring. Also: Wales refuses to tax itself to pay for the anti-Rebecca crackdown.; The eccentric spiritualist Archdeacon Colley resists “Queen Anne’s Bounty.”; The government is unable to win a conviction in a Rebeccaite tollhouse destruction case tried at the Carmarthenshire Assizes.; John Gover Powell, a London Times reporter who brought the grievances of the Rebecca Rioters to the attention of the English-speaking public, is given an award for his service.; One of the magistrates who attempted to suppress the Rebecca Riots was later honored by self-appointed representatives of “Social Order and Private Property.”; A late trial in the Rebeccaite cases proves challenging for the prosecution, and another gate is destroyed so Rebecca may not be done with her work just yet.; By the Fall of 1845 the Rebecca Riots had mostly run their course, but Rebecca was still at least somewhat on the alert, as news reports of another tollhouse destruction show.; I’m hearing a lot of people claim they’ll stop paying taxes if their favored presidential candidate loses next month. We’ll see if anything comes of it. Also: a data point from the post Rebecca Riots period.; Today, some follow-up articles from a couple of years after the Rebecca Riots had mostly ended.; Today, some mentions of the Rebeccaite movement after its heydey, and of its copycats in England and Scotland.

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