Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2002 23:53:01 -0400
From: bobhunt@erols.com
Subject: [libs4peace] (fwd) War Tax Resisters Object to Paying Taxes Because Money Could Go for Military Use
To: Individual-Sovereignty@yahoogroups.com, libs4peace@yahoogroups.com ("Libertarians 4Peace"), MDLP-NEWS@onelist.com


Apr 14, 2002

War Tax Resisters Object to Paying Taxes Because Money Could Go for
Military Use

By Paul Glader

Associated Press Writer

BERKELEY, Calif.  (AP) - Tax day is here, and Susan Quinlan hasn't filed
her form 1040 yet.  She doesn't plan to.

As an anti-war activist, she objects to paying taxes that fund the
nation's defensebudget.

Most of the 10,000 or so conscientious tax resisters nationwide send
letters to the Internal Revenue Service each year explaining that they
are withholding their cash and putting the money into an interest-earning
fund.  Then they donate the interest to what they deem
life-affirming, peaceful causes.

"We're upset that our tax money is funding militarism," said Larry
Harper, a war taxresister from Sebastopol.

"This is not tax evasion," said Bill Ramsey of St.  Louis, a spokesman
for the NationalWar Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.
"This is tax refusal and redirection.  It's a public act and an act of
conscience."

The practice isn't without risk - the IRS considers resisters to be tax
cheats.  Harper said the IRS took $1,200 from his bank account the first
time he resisted in 1982 but has left him alone ever since.  Others
say the IRS regularly takes money out of their bank accounts and
garnishees their wages.

Critics argue that war tax resisters could take advantage of charity tax
credits, alreadypart of the tax system.  They also say resisters are
selfish because they benefit from government services funded by
citizens who do pay taxes.

"The vast majority of salaried employees file and pay voluntarily," IRS
spokesman AnthonyBurke said.  "Most Americans, I think, are law abiding
and honest citizens."

Just days before Monday's tax filing deadline, Quinlan and Harper led a
workshop in Berkeley and dispensed brochures, information and support to
15 tax resister recruits.

The movement started after the Vietnam War and rose again during the
Persian Gulf War.Quinlan said interest has been piqued this year by the
war in Afghanistan.

"I wondered after Sept.  11 if we'd be deluged with people," Quinlan
said.  "We weren't initially.  But we are seeing more now."

Instead of putting a check in the mail Monday, Quinlan and some of her
fellow Northern California war rsisters will have a party and make
contributions to charities from the $10,000 from interest earned on
their diverted tax endowment, which they call the People's Life Fund.

Ramsey and 50 resisters in St.  Louis have purchased $10,000 in medical
equipment for clinics in Afghanistan.  Outside the IRS office in St.
Louis on Monday, they will present the equipment to nurses who will
takethe supplies overseas.

Nearly 29 alternative funds across the country plan to use $100,000 in
interest this yearto make grans to battered women's shelters, homeless
programs and AIDS prevention.

Some conscientious objectors keep income below certain levels to avoid
paying taxes completely.  Some just refuse to pay any federal taxes,
while others send about half of what they owe, figuring that about
half would have gone to military spending for national defense and
veterans benefits.

The IRS will collect about $2 trillion this year from 132 million
individual income tax returns.  Although wealthy individuals keeping
money off shore is a bigger problem than war tax resisters, the IRS
wants to crack downon all lawbreakers large and small.

"We have to administer the federal law with uniform fairness," Burke
said.  "We are not serving certain taxpayers well if we are allowing
other taxpayers to get a free ride on their backs."

Resisters can face property liens, garnisheed wages, ruined credit
ratings and as much as $100,000 in fines and five years in jail.

Quinlan says resisting is a yoke as much as it is liberating.  She
spends hours each year figuring up the taxes she won't pay, writing
letters to government agencies, selecting charities and managing escrow
accounts.

"We actually have to do a lot more than if we were actually paying
taxes," Quinlan said."It's not a way of getting off easy."