[Editor’s Note: The following two stories were shared in our recent 40th anniversary newsletter. We will continue celebrating our 40th anniversary at our 4-6 November 2022 conference on Zoom. You can see the full schedule and register here.] The Origins of NWTRCC By Bill Durland-Littleton, Colorado It was 1982, and Genie and I had moved… Continue reading
Federal Income Tax
$80 Billion for IRS…
Almost from the moment that Biden assumed the presidency, he has been singing in unison with IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig about the need to increase funding to the IRS by $80 billion. Originally, the proposed funding had some Republican support, but that soon soured and the future of the funding proposal seemed dead. All that… Continue reading
“Problems Were Encountered”
It will take 16 more weeks to overcome a “problem encountered” by the IRS in processing my 2020 tax return, which they received 14 months ago. As previously reported, IRS reports indicate I didn’t file a 2020 return. Without that my social security statement does not include my income or social security payments for that… Continue reading
A Cog in a Broke Down Machine
I can’t even remember how much time it has taken me to create an online account with the IRS. Until recently this was not something I ever wanted to do, because they ask for so much information to establish the account. But there are a few reasons I’ve found it necessary: you can’t get anyone… Continue reading
No War, No Warming: Fund Our Future
In these discouraging times for antiwar activists and humanity at large, it was good to be out marching around with like-minded folks and getting encouraging support from passers-by, including tourists from near and far. War tax resistance is a quarterly, paycheck-to-paycheck or even daily act of resistance to war, depending on your method, but it… Continue reading
Pentagon Spending: Efficient at Destroying but Inoperable for Healing Our World
The revolving doors of the Pentagon opened up this week to the 8 largest U.S. weapons manufacturers and the war strategists to come to the table. They were making plans for a war in Ukraine that may continue for years. It was as if a dream that had been brewing for years appeared to be… Continue reading
The Untouchable Pentagon
The bright red slices of pie on War Resisters League’s new “Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes” flyer have shrunk well below 50% this year. For years we’ve been demanding a budget that prioritizes humanitarian and social needs over military spending. It almost makes us want to celebrate…almost. Biden’s budget proposal for FY 2023… Continue reading
I am a “Symbolic Resister”
Back in December 2021, I wrote a letter to my 2 U.S. Senators—with no expectation—just a need to vent. I had written to both about U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Rand Paul’s joint resolution that would have stopped the arms sale to Saudi Arabia for use in its war on Yemen. I never expect… Continue reading
Symbolic War Tax Resistance
Carolyn and I have been war tax resisters since we were married in 1975. Although we were both raised as Mennonites and continue to be members of the Mennonite Church, one of the three historic peace churches in the U.S., we both had experiences after college while doing volunteer work overseas (before getting married) that… Continue reading
IRS Annoyances vs. Your Money or Your Life
Some months ago I wrote a blog about how the IRS had improperly applied my estimated tax payments for 2020 to the earliest tax years for which I had an open balance. In that way they wiped out the balance from 2011 and part of it from 2012, thus circumventing the 10 year statute of… Continue reading
In Flight
[Editor’s Note: This work of creative non-fiction was previously published in Meat for Tea.] You were deafened. The sound was intolerable; it violated your sense of decency, your love of quiet, and your yearning for solitude. Why, on the top of this rather small green hill in southeast Vermont, was there this unholy din? It… Continue reading
Knowing is Half the Battle
There is a lot of confusion around taxes in the US, especially around federal income taxes. Many taxpayers are unaware that every year around 50% of taxes goes towards warfare and increased militarism worldwide. And in the wars since 9/11 about half of those tax monies go towards private contractors. Then there is the fear… Continue reading