Well, just goes to show what a little google can do for you. I just now found this article about War Tax Resistance from an edition of the Columbia Chronicle, in which I’m quoted:
For those who want to stop funding recent war efforts without running afoul of the tax man, there’s always the option of reducing the amount of one’s income to below the minimum federal filing limit. Currently the IRS exempts those making less than $7,700 from having to either file or pay any income tax, a dollar amount that can potentially be increased significantly through the creative use of claiming deductions.
Dave Gross, a 36-year-old computer programmer in San Francisco, took such a route, quitting his job right around the time the war in Iraq started heating up.
“I knew then that I could no longer continue to fund the government if there was a way out of it but I didn’t know for sure that ducking under the tax threshold was a viable solution,” Gross said. “After , I had the terrible realization that even in the wake of such a shocking and successfully brutal terrorist attack on my country’s soil, I feared my government’s reaction to the attack more than I feared the terrorists.”
In addition to simply stopping funding of a government he fundamentally disagrees with, Gross’s efforts have come with some unintended side benefits.
“I’ve got more free time, I’m living a life that’s more closely aligned with my principles, and I haven’t really had to give up a whole lot to lower my spending,” Gross said. “Most of my savings have come from spending smarter. I’m eating as well or better than before, for instance, but I’m cooking at home rather than going out. I’ve switched to drip coffee at home from $3 mochas on my way to work.”
