Can we withhold taxes this year to protest?

[neverevergivein]

Didn't Cindy Sheehan refuse to pay taxes to protest the illegal war? Can we refuse to pay to protest an illegal government?

[Trevelyan]

1. Very good idea -- we need to organize something around this -- most people

can't quit their jobs to stop the bush regime death machine as has been suggested but the taxation without representation is a very good action and was the reason why America was born after rebelling against the british king for what bushler is doing.

[The Magistrate]

2. If You Are Willing To pay The Consequences. Sir

[Vincardog]

3. Yes

[EST]

4. Sure you can-any year.

Actions_____have_____consequences

[Trillo]

5. That's part of why they require employers to withhold taxes, I believe. nt

[rinsd]

15. Yeah that evil FDR

Withholding is actually preferable to paying a lump sum for your taxes (even per quarter). As a former independent contractor, it was not easy to do.

[Trillo]

20. "Evil FDR"? Or, The Economy's Great(!)?

FDR's New Deal has been and is continuing to be discounted by the corporatists and the religion of consumerism. The steeply progressive taxation upon which the ND was based exists no longer. The goals of the ND, raising the wages of the working class and expanding the middle class, as well as providing a livable income for the elderly who are increasingly needing to work for income supplementation, seems to make the realized goals of the ND for many in the past but a receding memory for the present and future.

Prior to the New Deal, I understand that only the rich paid income taxes. Today, capitalist CEOs don't deserve to bear a fair burden, haven'tcha heard?

It is unremarkable that Boston Tea Parties are being considered by some.

[rinsd]

21. "Evil FDR" was sarcasm....

I mentioned him because withholding started under his admin.

[leftstreet]

6. You can refuse to pay your telephone Excise Tax

It's not much $, but it's an effective way to make a statement. Just make sure your phone company notifies the IRS.

http://seanacc.org/telephone.htm

The Telephone Excise Tax was first introduced in 1898, when the United States declared war on Spain. Telephones were relatively rare at that time, so the Tax was a luxury-tax on each call costing 15 cents or more. The Tax was withdrawn after three years, but the government reinstated it for World War I. The telephone was by then no longer a luxury item, and many people pointed out the regressive nature of the Tax. Nevertheless, Congress continued to extend it.

Congress raised the Telephone Tax to a whopping 25% on long distance calls during World War II, along with a 14% Tax on local service. Although lawmakers continued to label the tax as temporary, they extended it every few years. It raised extra dollars for the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and then for the military build-up of the Reagan years.

In 1990, the Tax was finally made permanent, at 3%. The act which made the Tax permanent stipulated that the revenue would be used to fund childcare programs. However, Telephone Taxes are not set aside for childcare, but continue to go into the General Fund – about 50% of which is used for military spending.

[MercutioATC]

7. Yes, you can!

The government will even provide you free housing and food if you do!

I'm told that "Bubba" isn't such a bad guy once you get to know him (in a biblical sense).

[Journeyman]

8. Henry David Thoreau did, for much the same reason. . .

to protest the illegal invasion of Mexico and the subsequent extension of slavery. He went to jail for it, too. But from his experience came one of the seminal essays of human endeavor. So I guess what you've got to ask yourself is, how good a writer are you? And have you a mind like Thoreau's, that you might put your experience to good use. Or will you instead be one of those who clogs the machine with your body and "casts a whole vote, not merely a slip of paper"?

Good luck. Thoreau's aunt paid his fine (to avoid familial embarassment). Might be wise to arrange bail and have a lawyer at the ready with a writ of habeas corpus if you decide to test the machine. . . and yourself. No one returns from such a fire unscathed.


Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. The proper place today, the only place which Massachusetts has provided for her freer and less despondent spirits, is in her prisons, to be put out and locked out of the State by her own act, as they have already put themselves out by their principles. It is there that the fugitive slave, and the Mexican prisoner on parole, and the Indian come to plead the wrongs of his race should find them; on that separate but more free and honorable ground, where the State places those who are not with her, but against her - the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor. If any think that their influence would be lost there, and their voices no longer afflict the ear of the State, that they would not be as an enemy within its walls, they do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, nor how much more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice who has experienced a little in his own person. Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, "But what shall I do?" my answer is, "If you really wish to do anything, resign your office." When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned from office, then the revolution is accomplished. But even suppose blood shed when the conscience is wounded? Through this wound a man's real manhood and immortality flow out, and he bleeds to an everlasting death. I see this blood flowing now.

The entire essay, Civil Disobedience, can be found here: http://eserver.org/thoreau/civil.html as well as many other places on the web.

[donkeyotay]

14. Better to organize a threat of tax protest.

Better to use April 15th to make it known that the people believe they are being taxed without representation. Then, if you have to follow through with it, you will have hopefully gathered enough weight to make them fear our collective power. (And people can increase their exemptions so they are not paying their full taxes.)

A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.

In the meanwhile, there are as options targeted boycotts and general strikes. I'm willing to entertain (unlike the king george) any legal tactic.

[The Animator]

9. I suggested this a long time ago, no one ever ran with it though.

To me, it makes perfect sense. I had proposed it as a way to get random bi-partisan inspections of the e-voting machines and their software.

If one half of the country doesn't trust the other, and the other just so happens to have close ties to the people who build the vote counting machines...

And the other side happens to win despite strong exit polling data in favor their opponent, exit polling data, by the way, has been proven accurate in every previous US election, as well as elections in other democratic nations. Anomolies in exit polling data can sometime call into question the legitimacy of an election. The citizens of an eastern bloc country, I can't right now recall if it was the Chech Republic or the Ukraine, was spired into action when exit poll data indicated fraud there. They revolted against their sitting government and demanded a revote.

But no, when it happens here in must mean that the exit polls are wrong.

At any rate, the machines are quite possibly rigged, and even if they weren't the system as a whole is vunerable. The truth is we don't know whether or not we are being properly represented We are certainly being taxed, that sure hasn't stopped. As American citizens this is our right, all Americans need to be able to trust the voting system, not just the half counting the votes.

It's not too much to ask.. this is our government, we own it. The government is supposed to do our bidding, it is supposed to be our servant, an extension of our will. The taxes we pay, are paying for these frigging machines. This is the equivilant of an auto worker being forced by the company he works for, to pay for the robot that will put him out of work. I refuse to pay for a machine that is going to cut me out of the loop.

This is too important to be polite about it. Don't ask... demand it. It's your country... you own it, your paying for it, make them earn it.

[napi21]

10. Good idea, IF you're self employed!

If you're not, too bad! You're taxes are already witheld, under the law, by your employer! You don't have any choice.

[emlev]

11. It's called "war tax resistance"

and you can get information about it here:
http://www.warresisters.org/wtr_menu.htm

[The Animator]

12. I feel this would only be effective on a grand scale.

on an individual level, it means next to nothing, all it will do is land you in jail. But if 1 million or more Democrats, greens and independants all refuse, en masse, and give this as a reason... it might even make the news.

If the primary motivation for the * Administrations actions is greed, then I suggest hitting them where it hurts... the pocket book.

The Bush Tax Cuts are an injustice all unto themselves anyway. The richest in our country are barely even paying taxes, and they're the ones who wanted, and are benefitting from all of Bushs ill-advised adventures.

Meanwhile many citizens with low or middle income are made to bare the greatest share of the burden this country's outragous spending has wrought. A strong majority of low income citizen vote Democratic, and are strongly opposed to much of what the administraion is spending their money on and need benevolent services that Bush has cut from the budget. It's ironic, and tragic, that those who pay the most in proportion to what they earn, get so little from the government in return, while those who pay the least, in proportion to what they earn, are getting untold billions from the government.

[Soloflecks]

13. General strike.

That would take care of it. Wouldn't be paid for those days, so no taxes come out. We'd stand just as good a chance of organizing that as we would anything else that requires mass participation. Probably a snowball's chance, but still...

[rinsd]

16. Plenty of people have withheld paying their taxes in protest...

...for one reason or another. And they get nailed by the IRS.

So I would only suggest something like that if you are fully aware of the possible consequences which could be severe.

[welshTerrier2]

17. reflect on this and get back to me ...

i've debated libertarians ... many of them believe that the Federal government has no legal basis to levy taxes ... they cite all sorts of clauses in the Constitution ...

some don't believe in the public school system ... they believe it "bans religion and keeps god out of the classroom" ...

some believe the only purpose of government is to provide for the national defense ...

they don't believe in things like medical care, programs for the poor, retirement security for the elderly ...

given this, and looking beyond your legitimate objection to bush's illegal war, what course of action would you then advocate?

what action would you take, if any, against those who believe many social programs are illegal and who withhold paying their taxes? if you're going to condone this form of civil disobedience, you have to construct a law that allows for this conduct regardless of the issues being protested ...

i commend those who are willing to stick their necks out for their beliefs; i'm less sure how this would be codified (i.e. legalized) to support arguments of governmental illegality ...

[gratuitous]

18. Tax protesting has a long history

In fact, the Boston Tea Party had its genesis in a tax on tea.

But know that if you withhold your taxes, the possibility that you will be hauled into court and tried for tax evasion is very real. The amount in controversy may not be very substantial (e.g., the telephone tax referenced above), but the federal government doesn't much care for folks withholding their taxes -- gives other people ideas.

Be prepared for the possibility that you could go to jail, and you can protest all you want. Because while campaign donations may be protected free speech according to the buttheads on the Supreme Court, tax protests enjoy no such protection.

[neverevergivein]

19. But then again, they didn't go after Cindy Sheehan.

Maybe they are running a bit scared.

[onenote]

22. statute of limitations: six years

They may not have gone after her yet, but it doesn't mean that they can't/won't.

onenote

[Neil Lisst]

23. Anyone who suggests such illegalities is not our friend.

There seems to be influx of those who advocate illegality.

A thinking person might suspect such persons had an agenda to make DU look bad, if not to induce others to commit illegal acts.

I don't trust you.