Letters

Dear Friends: We have sent our U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for 2019 electronically. Of the total tax that is due the IRS, we are withholding $200.00. We do this as a way of honoring our values, giving concrete expression to our opposition to war and the use of our tax dollars for financing war. We are members of the Mennonite church, one of three historic peace churches in the United States, which teaches that war and preparation for war are contrary to the will of God, and that the path to long-term peace is through justice, non-violence and loving our enemies. Article 22 of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective states that “As disciples of Christ, we […]

Dear Friends,   This year Tax Day is July 15. Thought you would be interested in this letter my wife and I have written the IRS refusing to pay for wars and preparations for wars. We find it very difficult to pray and work for peace and then pay for wars. We would welcome your thoughts about how you respond our government’s demands that we continue to pay for their wars and all the senseless and immoral bombing, droning and preparations for even a nuclear war which could put an end to all life on our beautiful planet. For more information about war tax resistance, go to NWTRCC.org (National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee). Peace, David Hartsough

April 15, 2020 IRS Fresno, CA 93888-0002 To whom it may concern: I am withholding half of my taxes because I am a Christian. Killing is against my conscience as stated in the 10 Commandments. Taxes for the military kill directly and indirectly. Directly, when there are wars, drones, or perhaps some military actions. Indirectly, by taking over half the money in the yearly budget which could otherwise go to support so many lives. Thank you for listening, Carol Caffrey  

To Whom It May Concern: Enclosed please find my federal tax return for the year 2018, which I have filled out honestly and accurately to the best of my knowledge. However, I have not enclosed payment for the amount indicated on line 22. I have redirected this amount to organizations that promote peace, justice, reconciliation, and healing. Allow me to tell you why. The Trump Administration has undeniably made the world a more dangerous place. Not only does the Administration plan to increase our already-bloated military budget to an astonishing $750 billion, but they propose to add $7.87 billion to “replace and modernize” America’s nuclear arsenal. This, plus the planned withdrawal from the INF Treaty, can only rekindle a new […]

To the Internal Revenue Service Copies to : Rep. Dwight Evans, Senator Bob Casey, Senator Patrick J. Toomey, President Donald Trump To my government representatives, My 2018 tax return says that I owe $215 in taxes. I am once again writing to explain why I will not pay the amount I owe to the federal government. Currently the majority of every tax dollar goes to pay for past, present, and future wars. I can not pay for war. As much as I value our country’s laws, I believe that God’s laws must come first, and God tells us, “Thou shalt not kill.” In addition to paying for foreign wars, the 1033 Program transfers excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement […]

Dear Congressman Himes, Senators Murphy and Blumenthal and Mr. President, I am going act in accordance with the Article 1 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, join the movement of conscientious objectors and refuse to pay 24% of my federal taxes this year. Instead, I will redirect that money to supporting human rights because the federal government is lacking significantly in doing so. Article one states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” yet the United States budget and resulting actions of the military do not align with this article. It is well documented that millions of civilians get killed by US Troops every year. We spend significantly more on private contractors and […]

Dear friends in the IRS and others concerned about integrity in government, I am withholding 12% of my taxes again this year as I cannot morally or spiritually support the indiscriminate killing of many thousands of innocent civilians by the US military in recent years. If another country’s military were to kill US civilians, there would be a huge uproar. Yet our military kills civilians with impunity, listing them as “collateral damage.” Besides being immoral, this is clearly turning family and friends of those killed against the United States and creating even more terrorists. The US military additionally repeatedly commits illegal acts by carrying out wars that have never been declared by Congress, violating Article I Section 8 Clause 11 […]

Dear Sirs: I am sending this annual letter to Mr. Trump and Mr. Warner and Mr. Kaine and Mr. Cline. You bring to mind the founding fathers – white men. And also the often quoted phrase about how all MEN are created equal. We conveniently ignore the historic denigration of women, blacks and Native Americans. Some of that denigration carries forward even today. My annual letter generally focuses on the massive military spending of the US. I am a part of a very small group of people who as conscientious objectors to out of control military spending and war making openly refuse to pay some or all of our federal income taxes because such a large percentage of those taxes […]

IRS, I’m writing this from a prison bus on my way to arraignment for demonstrating against the launching of the first Trident Nuclear Submarine, the world’s most powerful killing machine. Since I was prepared to refuse my body as cannon fodder for the Vietnam War (my lottery number was not called for the last year of the draft), I can no longer pay for others to do what my own conscience will not allow. So, from now on, I will refuse to pay federal income taxes, since more than 50% of the revenue goes toward funding past, present and future wars, none of which are waged to protect our own national territory. – Robert Riversong, 1979