April 8, 2006
Internal Revenue Service Andover, MA 05501
To Whom It May Concern:
Though my return shows I owe a balance to the IRS, I cannot in conscience pay any more money than has already been withheld from my paycheck knowing it will go to finance war.
The Federal Government, after passing massive tax cuts and widening the tax loopholes for corporations, ignoring overwhelming worldwide opposition and facing a growing majority of opposition in the US, continues to spend several hundred billion dollars of taxpayer money to inflame and participate in the slaughter of Iraqi people – occupying a country that was in no way threatening the US. At the same time, the Federal budget deficit climbs while social spending for education and health care is being slashed across the country.
The money spent on this war, as with all wars, brings us thousands of deaths, chaos and misery in the country we attack, the hatred of people across the globe, and the continuing prospect of spending many hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years. The President has said in the face of overwhelming public and military opposition to the war in Iraq that the decisions to end the war “will not be politicized,” meaning he will not permit the people of the US to have any say in the matter.
Many people have differences with spending decisions of the Federal Government yet continue to pay their entire taxes, and I know that many of my tax dollars that are withheld go to necessary programs. On the other hand, I also know that US law has recognized the right of conscientious objection to war since 1940. The thought of paying someone else to kill for for me is as abhorrent as the idea of doing it myself.
Instead of sending in the balance of the taxes I owe and thereby paying for the machinery, training and implementation of war, for death and destruction and the enmity of the world, I am placing that money in an escrow account with New England War Tax Resisters. This organization uses any income generated from the fund to provide low-interest loans and grants to groups working for peace and justice. In addition, I will send an equivalent amount to groups providing needed social services in the Boston area.
Until a Federal Peace Tax Fund is established, allowing citizens to pay taxes that will be used for only peaceful government functions, I will struggle with this decision each year.
I believe it is the right of citizens of conscience to pay their taxes without having to support the systematic practice of killing in their name.
Sincerely,
Andrew Curtis
7 Park Ln.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
