I called their bluff, waited them out, and won (well, except for that $469).

(Note: this statute of limitations does not apply to people who refuse to file returns, or if the IRS can show that you did not file honestly, correctly, and completely. It only applies if you file but don’t pay.)

Fewer IRS staff means less collections.

I didn’t make things easy for the IRS. I followed some of the advice in NWTRCC’s Practical War Tax Resistance pamphlet #3 (“How to Resist Collection, or Make the Most of Collection When It Occurs”). But I didn’t go to extraordinary lengths to hide my assets or drop into the underground economy. I’m certain the IRS knows of some things they could seize. I guess they’ve just been too busy to get around to it.

I Joined the Redirectors

This is also the first year I’ve redirected my taxes. In the past I’d been afraid that if I redirected my taxes and then the government also seized them from me that I’d go broke by paying double. (At least, thanks to the War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund, I don’t have to worry about going broke from the interest and penalties!) But this year, because I got away with it for the most part, I can redirect the successfully resisted money without concern.

I sent my $3,226 to the Prisoners Literature Project, an all-volunteer group that sends free books to prisoners throughout the United States. My donation will pay for the postage on hundreds of packages, and for the purchase of dictionaries and other such high-demand books.

I made sure to let the Prisoners Literature Project know that the donation was coming from redirected taxes. And I informed our local war tax resisters’ alternative fund — the People’s Life Fund — about my donation so they can add it to their tally (they’ve already given away over $65,000 in resisted war taxes this year, joining several other such funds that coordinate war tax redirection).

And I Made Some Noise

I also took some time to crow on social media about what I’d done so that news of my triumph over the IRS might spread. I hoped my example might encourage more people I know to consider resistance, and so I looked the example of another war tax resister I respect who opted “to brag as lustily as Chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.”

It’s been a joy to join the redirectors. I’ve long been envious of that path of war tax resistance, and I’m delighted to finally feel able to participate.

Post by David Gross

Here’s another example from our archives of a war tax resister beating the statute of limitations. It’s actually very common for the IRS to fail to pursue even the tax debts it knows about, even when there’s money on the table. There’s no guarantee you’ll be one of the lucky ones, but you won’t know until you try!

This post appears in the upcoming Aug/Sep 2018 NWTRCC newsletter. Check out back issues here!

The post Celebrating a Triumph over the IRS, with Redirection first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Celebrating a Triumph over the IRS, with Redirection appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Following the national gathering, I did a small tour focused on resisting taxes for racial justice. I first went to Chicago. We had a lunch at the Christian Peacemaker Teams office. CPT is a spiritual group that supports frontline struggles. We had a group of CPT staff and tax resisters from Chicago. We talked about our effort this year where tax resisters are giving money to black, brown, and indigenous organizers in their communities. It was clear that this shift in our focus—to explicitly challenge white supremacy in our government and in our organizing communities—is a breath of fresh air for activists in our network.

After that, I ran to catch a train to South Bend, Indiana. Just barely made it! My first presentation in South Bend was at a Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) meeting. SURJ is made up of white people who sometimes show up for protests, and has been called out by regional and national black-led organizations to disband (read more here). 

The goal of my presentation was to talk through how white people might want to think of themselves as “anti-racist” but still be funding (and benefitting from) our white supremacist government that is killing black, brown, and indigenous people in our streets and around the world. For the people at the SURJ meeting, redirecting tax dollars is a way to use radical tactics and actions rather than just sitting around in a room talking about racism. In particular, it is part of returning money to black communities and organizations as part of large-scale reparations.

The following day I led a community presentation with Darryl Heller, the Director of the South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center. We discussed tax resistance and building solidarity between movements. Darryl presented about being a war tax resister for many years in the 1980’s. He also talked about his work bringing Black and Brown people together to build community and shared resistance in South Bend. As per usual, it worked well to have the workshop co-hosted by a few organizations together. This provided space for building relationships between our groups and provided many ways for people to plug in.

I hope this gives you a few ideas about how a presentation could look in your area. It could be a workshop for an individual non-profit or activist group. It could also be a larger community presentation (hopefully hosted by a few different groups) that seeks to pull people in more broadly. The goal either way is to create a stronger regional base that you can then follow up with to build community power. If you would like to set up a presentation in your area, please email me at organizer@nwtrcc.org. 

A big thanks to everyone who made this trip possible, including hosting me, presenting together, and doing the hours of on-the-ground organizing required to pull off a community workshop.

Post by Sam Koplinka-Loehr

The post Resisting Taxes to Support Racial Justice in the Midwest first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Resisting Taxes to Support Racial Justice in the Midwest appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The early morning view from the train leaving New York City going towards Syracuse, NY. Photo: Sam Koplinka-Loehr

Over the course of the week, I led three presentations on war tax resistance and racial justice. There was one in Ithaca, Syracuse, and Rochester, NY. I also got to see some friends and family, which was an added bonus.

The idea for this trip started at the end of 2016 when Tom Joyce contacted me. Tom is a long-time war tax resister and organizer from Ithaca, NY. He wanted to have a gathering for war tax resisters in New York state, similar to the one that New England War Tax Resistance puts on every year.

We first discussed me coming to speak to the Ithaca Catholic Worker that Tom is a part of. After some talking, though, the idea quickly grew to include a series of presentations in three cities. We decided on two main goals. One of our goals was to highlight and support local organizing for racial justice. The other goal was to build a stronger base of people who refused taxes and redirected that money to organizers in their communities. We figured that after a series of presentations we would have enough people who were interested in making a regional gathering happen.

Some of my highlights from the week included:

• Presenting with Maria Engels from the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence and Chanel Snead from Building Leadership And Community Knowledge in Rochester. We discussed defunding our white supremacist government and supporting black resistance in Rochester. 
• Eating hoagies at Subway (or i guess I should say “subs”) with Tom. We chatted about everything from sexual health to maintaining organizing energy over many years. Maybe those aren’t that different after all!
• Getting to see my aunt Mary Loehr in Ithaca. She helped out with the presentation at the Ithaca Friends Meetinghouse. It turned out to be quite the family affair, with my mom in attendance as well!
• Hearing Bernice Rodriguez present at our workshop in Syracuse, NY about her work with the Workers Center of Central NY. She is fighting for undocumented immigrants and workers rights. If you have money, the Workers Center is asking for people to support their organizing!

Between all three workshops, people were most excited about the tax redirection effort this year, which is people refusing money to the federal government and redirecting those tax dollars to radical organizing that is led by Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. At each presentation, people decided to start a redirection effort in their area.

It also seemed like this organizing model makes sense. It worked well to have a few workshops in cities or towns that are relatively close to each other that are co-hosted by local activist groups, a regional organizer, and NWTRCC. The focus on getting more resource and support to local activists was critical. Now, regional organizers can build a network that wants to stay connected with projects like redirecting taxes and starting an annual gathering. So stay tuned for a gathering in upstate NY in the coming year!

Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible through hosting me, reserving the space for workshops, doing local outreach, presenting together, and so much more.

Post by Sam Koplinka-Loehr

The post Organizing Region to Region: My Travels in Upstate New York first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Organizing Region to Region: My Travels in Upstate New York appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Image created by Sam Koplinka-Loehr, NWTRCC

There has been renewed interest in war tax resistance following Trump’s inauguration. Something has clicked in the minds of thousands of people across the country… we don’t want to pay for Trump’s agenda! While many of the reasons people are fed up—extreme militarism, mass incarceration, police brutality, and mass deportations—are part of the foundation of our country, it is exciting to see many new people contacting NWTRCC and wanting to organize in their communities.

We have a series of webinars coming up in the next few weeks to support this new wave of resisters. Join us online to learn more about war tax resistance and our redirection effort for this year!

Webinars

UPDATE: These webinars are over, but you can see recordings on our YouTube channel! And check out the analysis below by NWTRCC’s field organizer.

War Tax Resistance 101 with Erica Weiland, NWTRCC Social Media Coordinator
Saturday, February 18th, 1 – 2 pm EST

Redirecting Taxes to Black, Brown, and Indigenous Resistance! with Sam Koplinka-Loehr, NWTRCC Field Organizer
Saturday, February 25th, 2 – 3 pm EST

War Tax Resistance 101 with David Gross, a long-time war tax resister
Saturday, March 4th, 2 – 3 pm EST

War Tax Resistance 101 will cover the history of war tax resistance, which modern taxes go to war and militarism, reasons to resist, and ways to resist. There will be time for Q&A at the end.

Redirecting Taxes to Black, Brown, and Indigenous Resistance! will cover the collective redirection initiative of war tax resisters around the country this year. It will also include information on the logistics of redirection, and how tax resistance can be a tactic for racial justice.

RSVP is required for the webinars; please register here.

NWTRCC is hoping to support independent organizing efforts as well as provide some vision during this period of increased resistance.

***

To help frame this time in history, I want to address the glue that binds the whole system together: white supremacy.

Whether we are looking at drone strikes in Pakistan, police killings in Philadelphia, or the national guard holding checkpoints out at Standing Rock, there is one common theme: our government is escalating violence against Black, Brown, and Indigenous People. This is not new—indeed, white supremacy and violence have been the bedrock of our country since its founding—but the Trump administration has taken the extra step to raise the thin veil, making the system of white supremacy explicitly clear.

During the first days in office, the Trump administration took a series of actions reinforcing white supremacy. While some of them were very well publicized, like the Muslim immigration ban, others were more subtle. One of the first things on the new White House website was a policy statement that read, “The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong. The Trump Administration will end it.” This effectively put Black Lives Matter organizations and any group that is challenging racist police violence on notice. Then, just yesterday the administration approved the Dakota Access Pipeline, the path of which crosses directly through the territory of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

Image created by Erica Weiland, NWTRCC

War tax resistance takes direct action to challenge this racist system. During a workshop I helped lead in Philadelphia last month, I was reminded of Wally Nelson’s saying, “What would you do if someone came to your door with a cup in hand asking for a contribution to help buy guns and kill a group of people they didn’t like?” But in my mind it shifted to, “What would you do if a random organization wanted to build hundreds of prisons, give people guns on the streets, build tanks and fighter jets, all to lock up, kill, and oppress Black, Brown, and Indigenous People?” We would see it for what it is—a white supremacist organization—and many more of us we would refuse to pay.

Tax resistance is just one piece of the puzzle though; redirecting that money is the next piece. This year, I am excited to announce a new initiative that war tax resisters are taking on across the country, to redirect tax dollars to Black, Brown, and Indigenous organizers who are fighting for liberation. To read more about this critically important effort and to get involved, check out our website! You can also join me for a webinar, Redirecting Taxes to Black, Brown, and Indigenous Resistance, that will be on Saturday, February 25th from 2 – 3 pm eastern time.

Onwards in the struggle together!

Sam

The post Upcoming Webinars on War Tax Resistance and Redirection first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Upcoming Webinars on War Tax Resistance and Redirection appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

One of the most gratifying things about war tax resistance for many of us is being able to use our money, time, and passion to build a better world right now. If I give my tax dollars to non-profits, I promote and help enact the type of world I want to live in (and depending on my income level and donation amounts, I might reduce my taxable income too!).

If I am able and choose to live under the taxable income line, I may have extra time to redirect to community projects. For example, longtime war tax resister Karl Meyer has been able to rehabilitate several homes to form the Nashville Greenlands community (read this article from 2000). These low-cost homes allow folks to live on low incomes and spend more time on activities that are most meaningful to them.

And for folks like Elizabeth Boardman, who are holding their war taxes aside as they pursue legal challenges to our military taxation system, and for everyone who resists paying war taxes, they are still redirecting their consent from the military to peace.

It is impossible to remove all of our money, time, and effort from the military – the web of militarization and taxation covers so many aspects of society. But the joy of war tax resistance is redirecting, as much as possible, from that system to the world we want to create.

Post by Erica

The post Redirecting Our Money, Time, and Focus from War first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Redirecting Our Money, Time, and Focus from War appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.