Tax Day 2025 Reports & Photos

Tax Day was Monday April 15, 2025 and folks throughout the US gathered around this date to raise awareness that close to half of federal income taxes are directed toward war. They also encouraged others to resist paying taxes and redirect money to community needs. You can use these links to find the 2025 press release as well as recent articles and interviews.

Arizona

Albuquerque

Ginny Schneider gave out more literature than she ever has given out on war tax resistance since 1985 when she became a war tax resister. She tabled for five hours outside the student union at the University of New Mexico, distributing a total of about 250 pie charts for 2025 and 2023 (since she ran out of the 2025s), over 100 W-4 war tax resistance instruction sheets, all the orange palm cards in English and Spanish, and all the military budget palm cards that Lincoln sent. After that, she gave out 300 More Than a Pay Check newsletters from 2022-2024. She spoke with everyone before she gave them the literature and only gave it to them if they wanted it. Her estimate is that she spoke with 700+ and had about ten substantive conversations. Report from Ginny Schneider.

Tucson

In the early morning of Tax Day, April 15, Tucson activists held signs and banners outside of Raytheon Missiles & Defense as workers arrived, in a protest to say, “Not in our name, Not with our tax dollars.”

At Tucson’s Raytheon plant, Standard Missiles, Star Wars “kill vehicles,” hypersonic glide bombs, AMRAAMs, Javelins, Mavericks, microwave crowd control beams, drones, cluster bombs, nuclear-armed cruise missiles and more are made. Report & Photos from Felice Cohen-Joppa.

California

Leafleting in front of the Chico Post Office.

Chico

On Tax Day, volunteers from the Chico Peace Alliance leafleted with the WRL tax pie chart for four hours at the downtown Post Office. We informed people where their taxes really go. Hint, hint—Military Spending! Report from Chris Nelson.

Berkeley

On Sunday April 13, the People’s Life Fund held a granting ceremony, where it redirected $80,000 to community organizations. We offer grants to groups that are providing essential day-to-day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, and/or addressing the root causes of a problem by engaging in education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic, or political change. Grantees included the Amado Khaya Initiative, Bay Area Superheroes, Black Owned Project 365, Code Pink-Bay Area Chapter, Collective Action for Laborers, Migrants and Asylum Seekers, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and more. Report by People’s Life Fund.

Colorado

Colorado Springs

We held the penny poll and leafleting at a busy downtown street corner.Our poll results: Education 23%; Healthcare 20%; Environment 17%; Housing  17%; Infrastructure  10%; Arts  7%; Military  6%.

So glad the military got the least, even in our military-heavy city.  All our pie charts are gone, and we also gave out some of the cards.  I told several folks that the poll results would be posted on nwtrcc.org site – hope I didn’t lie! 😉

Report and photo from Mary Sprunger-Froese.

Maine

Ellsworth

Photo from Bruce Gagnon of PeaceWorks in Brunswick, Maine.

New York

Ithaca

A small band of folks gathered for two hours at the Ithaca Post Office on Tax Day ’25. The weather was wild: first it was cold, then there was a downpour, and it ended warm and sunny. We engaged folks with a “penny poll” – voting how they wanted their tax dollars spent. We also had a “soapbox” upon which a couple of people stood and spoke about war and peace. It was good to be there.

Report by Mary Loehr & Photo by Garry Thomas.

Manhattan

Leafleting to passing tourist bus.

Tax Day (April 15th) – “Move away from the building,” demanded a stern and officious sergeant from Department of Homeland Security, as we began our lunchtime picket of the IRS. “This is federal property.”

“We’re not blocking anyone. We’ve done this for years without any problem,” I replied. “Besides, doesn’t federal property belong to the people?” Neither amused nor convinced, the sergeant retreated to a clump of about 10 other DHS police around the corner and, thankfully, didn’t bother us again for the hour and a half we were there. I preferred not to be arrested with my camera equipment but would have risked it if they insisted on violating our basic right to peaceful protest.
The War Resisters League, Catholic Worker, and other groups have done Tax Day protests in front the Manhattan IRS office every year since the early 1950s. Yesterday — April 15 — was the continuation of this tradition when 30 or 40 of us showed up with signs, banners, distributing WRL pie charts, and singing, well, at least those of us who can carry a tune.
We were, of course, protesting the obscene amount of tax dollars being spent on US wars and the military, and the supporting authoritarian regimes. This escalating militarization consequently means shifting tax dollars from programs that help the have-nots to tax cuts for wealthy corporations and those with more money than they know what to do with.
During our protest we also encouraged open refusal to pay federal income taxes, instead rerouting that money to worthy causes. I’ve done this through 11 administrations since I began in Austin, Texas, 55 years ago. Sadly, I see no reason this should stop anytime soon. Report & Photos from Ed Hedemann

Rochester

On Saturday April 13th in Rochester, community members gathered at the IRS office to protest the use of our tax dollars to fund violence and oppression abroad. With Tax Day approaching on April 15th, demonstrators called out the US government for sending at least $17.9 billion to “Israel,” in just 2024, enabling the continued bombing and genocide of Palestinians. This is blood money, and the people are saying no more.

Instead of investing in healthcare, housing, education, and student debt relief, our hard-earned tax dollars are being funneled into weapons and war, used to murder innocent civilians. The US government’s complicity in these crimes extends beyond Palestine—to Yemen, Syria, Sudan, and Congo—leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. We demand that the United States stop funding occupation, war, and genocide. We demand that politicians stop being bought by AIPAC and other war-driven lobbies. We demand a permanent ceasefire and justice for all oppressed peoples.

This movement will not stop. We, the people, will continue to rise up and demand change. Without our labor and without our money, these corrupt systems cannot sustain themselves. We will keep organizing, keep speaking out, and keep standing in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters.

Palestine will be free! Report & Photo from Party for Socialism and Liberation Finger Lakes.

Oregon

Eugene

Planet vs Pentagon and Community Alliance of Lane County organized a Tax Day event in Euguene. About 30 people showed up to hold signs and give flyers to people as they passed by the Eugene Public library. The Raging Grannies sang a bunch of great songs. Two news stations stopped by and the local weekly paper published the results of the penny poll.

Penny Poll results: Eugeneans wanted 40% to go to Human Resources, 38% to go to the Climate and Environment, (something that wasn’t even in Trump’s budget),  10.5% to the General Government, 10.5% to Physical Resources and under 1% to the military.

Report & Photos from Sue Barnhart.

Medford

Estelle Voeller & I handed out flyers with tons of info about the federal budget and how much of it goes for military spending, past and present, at the Medford Post Office this morning. Check out this good article from ashland.news about this effort. Report by Allen Hallmark.

Vermont

Brattleboro

April 15 Tax Day info table was sponsored by Taxes for Peace, New England. Daniel Sicken and I talked to a couple dozen folks today while tabling at the Brattleboro Food Co-op.

Report & Photo from Lindsey Britt.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee

On April 12th, Casa Maria Catholic Worker, Milwaukee War Tax Resisters, Welfare Warriors, and Peace Action Wisconsin held a vigil outside the U.S. Army Reserve to protest federal tax dollars for war and genocide. At one point, two reservists came to ask us if we were flying a drone on their base, but that was not us. Like last year, the response to our message among passing vehicles was very positive. Report & photo by Lincoln Rice.

Group photo of Tax Day protest in Milwaukee, WI

Group photo of Tax Day protest in Milwaukee. Photo by Lincoln Rice.