View source for Tax resistance

{{Short description|Refusal to pay a tax in opposition to a government or policy, rather than taxation itself}}
{{distinguish|tax avoidance|tax evasion|tax protester}}
{{Taxation}}
[[File:Gandhi at Dandi 5 April 1930.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Gandhi]] picking up salt and disobeying the British [[History of the British salt tax in India|salt production and tax laws]]]]
'''Tax resistance''' is the refusal to pay [[tax]] because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as [[Taxation as theft|opposition to taxation in itself]]. Tax resistance is a form of [[direct action]] and, if in violation of the tax regulations, also a form of [[civil disobedience]]. Tax resisters are distinct from "[[Tax protester (United States)|tax protesters]]", who deny that the legal obligation to pay taxes exists or applies to them. Tax resisters may accept that some law commands them to pay taxes but they still choose to resist taxation.

Examples of tax resistance campaigns include those advocating [[home rule]], such as the [[Salt March]] led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], and those promoting [[women's suffrage]], such as the [[Women's Tax Resistance League]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Gandhi and King: The power of nonviolent resistance |author=Michael J. Nojeim |year=2004 |page=142 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lme8yEeWOr8C&pg=PA142 |isbn=9780275965747 }}</ref> War tax resistance is the refusal to pay some or all taxes that pay for [[war]] and may be practiced by [[conscientious objector]]s, [[pacifism|pacifists]], or those protesting against a particular war.<ref name=NWTRCC>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwtrcc.org/what_is_wtr.php|title=What is War Tax Resistance?|publisher=NWTRCC}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|History of tax resistance}}

[[File:Wells egyptian peasants taxes.jpg|thumb|300px|Egyptian peasants seized for non-payment of taxes during the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Pyramid Age]]]]
The earliest and most widespread forms of taxation were the [[corvée]] and [[tithe]], both of which can be traced back to the beginning of [[civilization]]. The corvée was state-imposed [[unfree labour|forced labour]] on [[peasant]]s too poor to pay other forms of taxation (''labour'' in [[Ancient Egyptian literature|ancient Egyptian]] is a synonym for taxes).<ref name=burg>{{cite book|title=A World History of Tax Rebellions|author=David F. Burg|year=2004|pages=vi–viii|publisher=Taylor & Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T91k6HAODzAC&pg=PP1|isbn=9780203500897}}</ref> Low taxes helped the Roman aristocracy increase their wealth, which equalled or exceeded the revenues of the central government. An emperor sometimes replenished his treasury by confiscating the estates of the "super-rich", but in the later period, the resistance of the wealthy to paying taxes was one of the factors contributing to the collapse of the empire.<ref name="Hopkins p. 184">[[#Morris|Morris]], p. 184.</ref>

[[File:Boston Tea Party Currier colored.jpg|thumb|The [[Boston Tea Party]], 16 December 1773]]
Because taxation is often oppressive, governments have always struggled with [[tax noncompliance]] and resistance.<ref name=burg /> It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse of several [[empire]]s, including the [[ancient Egypt|Egyptian]], [[Roman Empire|Roman]], [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]], and [[Aztec Triple Alliance|Aztec]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Economic Psychology of Tax Behaviour|author=Erich Kirchler|author-link=Erich Kirchler|page=182|year=2007|url=http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9780511628238|quote=Governments as far back as ancient Egypt have struggled to maintain compliance with tax laws. Indeed, it has been suggested that tax resistance has played a significant role in the collapse of several major world orders, including the Egyptian, Roman, Spanish and Aztec empires (Erard, 1997).}}</ref> Reports of collective tax refusal include [[Zealotry|Zealot]]s resisting the Roman [[tax per head|poll tax]] during the 1st century [[Common Era|CE]], culminating in the [[First Jewish–Roman War]].<ref>{{cite book|title=We Won't Pay: A Tax Resistance Reader|editor=David M. Gross|year=2008|pages=1–7}}</ref> Other historic events that originated as tax revolts include [[Magna Carta]], the [[American Revolution]] and the [[French Revolution]].<ref name="burg" />

War tax resisters often highlight the relationship between [[income tax]] and war.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of war tax resistance|url=http://www.peacetaxseven.com/history.html|publisher=The Peace Tax Seven}}</ref> In [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] income tax was introduced in 1799, to pay for weapons and equipment in preparation for the [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic wars]], whilst the [[Union (American Civil War)|US federal government]] imposed their first income tax in the [[Revenue Act of 1861]] to help pay for the [[American Civil War]].

==Views and aims==
[[File:Benjamin D. Maxham - Henry David Thoreau - Restored - greyscale - straightened.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Henry David Thoreau]], author of ''[[Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)|Civil Disobedience]]'']]
[[:Category:Tax resisters|Tax resisters]] come from a wide range of backgrounds with diverse [[ideology|ideologies]] and aims. For example, [[Henry David Thoreau]] and [[William Lloyd Garrison]] drew inspiration from the American Revolution and the stubborn pacifism of the [[Quakers]].<ref name=gross>{{cite book|title=We Won't Pay: A Tax Resistance Reader|editor=David M. Gross|year=2008|page=Back cover}}</ref> Some tax resisters refuse to pay tax because their conscience will not allow them to fund war, whilst others resist tax as part of a campaign to overthrow the government.<ref name=gross />

Tax resisters have been violent revolutionaries like [[John Adams]] and pacifist [[nonresistance|nonresistants]] like [[John Woolman]]; communists like [[Karl Marx]] and capitalists like [[Vivien Kellems]]; solitary [[anti-war movement|anti-war]] activists like [[Ammon Hennacy]] and leaders of independence movements like Mahatma Gandhi.<ref name=gross /> [[Leo Tolstoy]], a [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchist]], urged government leaders to change their attitude to war and citizens to taxes:

{{quote|If only each King, Emperor, and President understood that his work of directing armies is not an honourable and important duty, as his flatterers persuade him it is, but a bad and shameful act of preparation for murder—and if each private individual understood that the payment of taxes wherewith to hire and equip soldiers, and, above all, army-service itself, are not matters of indifference, but are bad and shameful actions by which he not only permits but participates in murder—then this power of Emperors, Kings, and Presidents, which now arouses our indignation, and which causes them to be murdered, would disappear of itself.<ref>[[Thou Shalt Not Kill (by Leo Tolstoy)|Thou Shalt Not Kill]].</ref>}}

==Methods==
As an example of the numerous tax resistance methods, below are some of the legal and illegal techniques used by war tax resisters:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwtrcc.org/how_to_resist.php|title=How to Refuse to Pay for War}}</ref>

===Legal===

====Avoidance====
A resister may lower their tax payments by using legal [[tax avoidance]] techniques.

====Paying under protest====
Some taxpayers pay their taxes, but include protest letters along with their tax forms.  Others pay in a protesting form—for instance, by writing their cheque on a [[toilet seat]] or a mock-up of a missile.  Others pay in a way that creates inconvenience for the collector—for instance, by paying the entire amount in low-denomination coins. This last method is less effective in countries where small coins are [[legal tender]] only in limited amounts, allowing the tax authority legally to reject such payments; for example in England and Wales, 1p coins are legal tender only in amounts up to 20p.

====Reducing taxable income and consumption====
[[File:PeacePark.jpg|thumb|right|The [[White House Peace Vigil]], started by [[Thomas (activist)|Thomas]] in 1981 and supported by tax resister [[Ellen Thomas]]]]
Other tax resisters change their lifestyles so that they owe less tax. For instance; to avoid [[consumption tax]]es on alcohol, a resister might [[Homebrewing|home-brew beer]]; to avoid [[excise|excise taxes]] on gasoline, a resister might take up [[Vehicular cycling|cycling]]; to avoid income tax, a resister may reduce their income below the [[income tax threshold|tax threshold]] by embracing simple living or a [[freeganism|freegan]] lifestyle.<ref name=nwtrcc>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwtrcc.org/practical5.php|title=Low Income/Simple Living as War Tax Resistance|publisher=NWTRCC}}</ref> For example, British citizens pay no income tax if their income is below the [[personal allowance]]. In the US the equivalent tax-free annual income is the [[standard deduction]], though many deductions and credits allow people to earn much more than this and still avoid income tax.<ref name=nwtrcc />

Opposition to war has led some, such as Ammon Hennacy and Ellen Thomas, to a form of tax resistance in which they reduce their income below the tax threshold by taking up a [[simple living]] lifestyle.<ref name=nwtrcc /><ref>{{cite news|author=Matt Hagengruber |title=DC protest group stands test of time |date=July 9, 2000 |publisher=KnightRidder |url=http://www.prop1.org/history/2000/000709kr.DC%20protest%20group%20stands%20test%20of%20time.htm|quote=I decided that when I didn't need to worry about providing for my daughter, I was going to reduce my income to below the poverty level so I wouldn't have to pay taxes, because I don't agree with the policies [of the U.S. government]}}</ref> These individuals believe that their government is engaged in immoral, unethical or destructive activities such as war, and that paying taxes inevitably funds these activities.<ref name=nwtrcc /><ref>[http://sniggle.net/Experiment/index.php?entry=19Mar05&showyear=2005 Picket Line Annual Report].</ref> These methods differ from [[tax evasion]] in that they stay within the tax laws, and they differ from tax avoidance in that the goal is to pay as little tax as possible rather than to keep as much post-tax income as possible.

===Illegal===

====Evasion====
A resister may decide to reduce their tax paid through illegal tax evasion. For instance, one way to evade income tax is to only work for [[cash-in-hand]], therefore circumventing [[withholding tax]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sniggle.net/Experiment/index.php?entry=16Feb06 |title=The Picket Line — 16 February 2006 |publisher=Sniggle.net |date=2006-02-16 |access-date=2010-09-01}}</ref>

====Redirection====
Some tax resisters refuse to pay all or a portion of the taxes due but then make an equivalent donation to charity. In this way, they demonstrate that the intent of their resistance is not selfish and that they want to use a portion of their earnings to contribute to the common good. For instance, [[Julia Butterfly Hill]] resisted about $150,000 in federal taxes, and donated that money to after school programs, arts and cultural programs, community gardens, programs for Native Americans, alternatives to incarceration, and environmental protection programs. She said:

<blockquote>I actually take the money that the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] says goes to them and I give it to the places where our taxes ''should'' be going. And in my letter to the IRS I said: "I'm not refusing to pay my taxes. I'm actually paying them but I'm paying them where they belong because you refuse to do so."<ref>Smith, Gar " [http://www.sniggle.net/Experiment/index.php?entry=10Sep05 An Interview with Julia Butterfly Hill: Part 1]", ''The Edge'' (26 May 2005).</ref></blockquote>

====Refusing specific taxes====
Some resisters refuse to willingly pay only certain taxes, either because those taxes are especially noxious to them, or because they present a useful symbolic target, or because they are more easily resisted. For instance, in the United States, many tax resisters resist the [[telephone federal excise tax]]. The tax was initiated to pay for the [[Spanish–American War]] and has frequently been raised or extended by the government during times of war. This made it an attractive symbolic target as a "[[war tax]]". Such refusal is relatively safe: because this tax is typically small, resistance very rarely triggers significant government retaliation. Phone companies will cooperate with such resisters by removing the excise tax from their phone bills and reporting their resistance to the government.<ref>"[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/04/BUGG2G1PMA1.DTL Not paying phone tax becomes war protest]" ''San Francisco Chronicle'' 4 December 2005.</ref>

====Refusing to pay====
The most dramatic and characteristic method of tax resistance is to refuse to pay a tax – either by quietly ignoring the tax bill or by openly declaring the refusal to pay. Some tax resisters resist only a portion of the taxes due.  For instance, some war tax resisters refuse to pay a percentage of their taxes equivalent to the military percentage of the government's budget.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-03-23 |title=History of War Tax Resistance |url=https://www.warresisters.org/history-war-tax-resistance |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=War Resisters League |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Draft resistance]]
* [[Tax choice]]
* [[Taxation as theft]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [[War Resisters League]] (2003) ''War Tax Resistance: A Guide To Withholding Your Support from the Military''. {{ISBN|978-0940862159}}
* Donald D. Kaufman (2006) ''What Belongs to Caesar?: A Discussion on the Christian's Response to Payment of War Taxes''. {{ISBN|978-1597525404}}
* Donald D. Kaufman (2006) ''The Tax Dilemma: Praying for Peace, Paying for War''. {{ISBN|978-1597528047}}
* David M. Gross (2008) ''We Won't Pay: A Tax Resistance Reader''. {{ISBN|978-1434898258}}
* David M. Gross (2009) ''Against War and War Taxes: Quaker Arguments for War Tax Refusal''. {{ISBN|978-1448688982}}
* Marian Franz (2009) ''Persistent Voice: Marian Franz and Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation''. {{ISBN|978-1931038591}}
* David M. Gross (2011) ''American Quaker War Tax Resistance''. {{ISBN|978-1466458208}}
* {{Cite book |last= Huret |first= Romain H. |year= 2014 |title= American Tax Resisters |location= Cambridge, MA |publisher= [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn = 978-0-674-28137-0 }}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|tax resister}}
*[http://www.simplerevolution.org/TaxReturn Climate change and my tax return]
*[http://www.consciencecanada.ca/ Conscience Canada]
*''[http://www.nwtrcc.org/deathandtaxes.php Death and Taxes]'' - [[National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee|NWTRCC]] film about war tax resisters and their motivations
*[http://www.peacetaxseven.com/history.html History of War Tax Resistance] by Peace Tax Seven (U.S./UK focus)
*[https://sniggle.net/TPL/index5.php?entry=rtcg Resistance to Civil Government] by [[Henry David Thoreau]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050404212746/http://www.mcc.org/respub/occasional/181.html Silence and Courage: Income Taxes, War and Mennonites 1940-1993]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060528232307/http://www.hastingspress.co.uk/history/siege.htm The Tax Resistance League] — tax resistance in the women's suffrage movement
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040229204215/http://www.wellesley.edu/Peace/Rosenwald/thoreau.html The Theory, Practice & Influence of Thoreau's Civil Disobedience] by Lawrence Rosenwald

{{Tax resistance}}
{{Anti-war}}
{{Simple living}}
{{Tea Party movement}}
{{Types of justice}}
[[Category:Tax resistance| ]]
[[Category:Civil disobedience]]
[[Category:Community organizing]]
[[Category:Protest tactics]]
[[Category:Anarchist theory]]
[[Category:Libertarian theory]]
[[Category:Tax noncompliance]]