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Tax Day Resistance, Redirection, and Planning Ahead

Tax day is behind us now — but tax season 2018 will be here before we know it! Northern California War Tax Resistance used their time and energy in the Tax March San Francisco to inform participants (who were mostly calling for Trump to release his taxes) about W-4 resistance and to get them thinking… Continue reading

An Open Act of Massive Resistance

war tax resister Larry Bassett's own humorous meme. Larry is pictured with a very long white and gray beard. Text: "I shave whenever military spending is significantly cut. But until then I will be a War Tax Resister. nwtrcc.org"

by Larry Bassett I have happily just passed the ten-month mark of my first year of massive resistance. I mark this new beginning of my life on June 11, 2016, with the death of my father and with my commitment to redirect much of my inheritance to make a better world. Dad left me $1… Continue reading

Tax Day marches, strikes, and resistance

The next five days will be filled with marches, rallies, and strikes against military spending and Trump’s secrecy around his tax returns. April 15 is the Tax March in Washington, DC and around the country, while April 18 is Tax Day. Equally important, many events will mourn lives lost in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, and other… Continue reading

Larry Bassett 2017

April 18, 2017 Internal Revenue Service Washington DC Copies to US Senator Mark Warner US Senator Tim Kaine US Representative Robert Goodlatte I have happily just passed the ten-month mark of my first year of massive resistance. I mark this new beginning of my life on June 11, 2016 with the death of my father and… Continue reading

Organizing Region to Region: My Travels in Upstate New York

Well, I am back in Philadelphia after a week in upstate New York. Whew! It was a lot of hours on the train and on the road! It was nice, though, to look out the window and see hills, rivers, and lakes. I love Philadelphia, but living in the city I forget the natural beauty of rural… Continue reading

David and Jan Hartsough (2017)

Dear Friends at the IRS, We cannot in conscience pay for the killing of other human beings or pay for war and preparations for war. Human life is too precious to drop bombs on people because we do not like their governments. Developing a new generation of nuclear weapons which could put an end to… Continue reading

Personal connections and growing war tax resistance

clockwise from left: photo of Peg Morton speaking, Susan Quinlan and Nancy Foster during the pillars of militarism workshop, and the assembled group watches clips of what became the film Death and Taxes

Last week, I was explaining war tax resistance to someone new. They asked how I got started. I talked about attending the November 2008 NWTRCC conference in Eugene. Meeting the knowledgeable and caring NWTRCC community, and having inquisitive and inspiring conversations with a variety of people, was my tipping point to start resistance. Likewise, this… Continue reading

Yes, it’s time for a tax strike

A few weeks ago, Truthout published Is it time for a tax strike? A conversation with activist Michael Kink. Kink is executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition in New York City. The title of the article refers to to the very last prompt and answer in the interview. The prompt was, “People… Continue reading

Bread or Bombs?

I needed bread and you sent a bomb

For better or worse, I start my day off listening to the NPR news and then listening/watching Democracy Now! Today’s big story was about the release of two pages of Trump’s taxes from 2005 — more all-Trump-all-the-time. Even his 12-year-old taxes get big notice. However, the reporter who received the leaked forms, David Cay Johnston,… Continue reading

Pleading the Fifth to the IRS

In 1985, the IRS took war tax resister and NWTRCC staff member Larry Bassett to court. Bassett had refused to pay any income taxes since 1980, and had refused the federal excise tax on telephone service since the early 1970s. The IRS wanted to compel him to give up information about his financial accounts so… Continue reading

The latest war tax resistance news coverage

War tax resistance has received more news coverage already this year than in all of 2016. I’m thrilled that we’re being sought out! Many articles are spreading beyond the original source, by being summarized or reblogged on other websites. This is leading to some misinformation that I want to clear up: The National War Tax… Continue reading

What to think about for tax resistance in 2017, 2018, and beyond

Lots of people are looking for the basics of tax resistance — whether against war and violence, the border wall, closing the door on refugees, racism, a mass deportation force, getting Trump to release his tax forms, the Trump agenda in general, having a president that many see as unqualified, or some new executive order… Continue reading