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My big, hairy war on taxation
By Emile Hallez
ehallez@mscd.edu

Protesting the war in Iraq is easier than ever; just check it off as an unofficial deduction on your federal income taxes next year. But make sure you have some serious cojones.

Most American taxpayers helplessly pay for an endeavor they vehemently oppose. But some are fighting to end their part in military financing through tax resistance, refusing to pay the percentage of their incomes destined for war spending.

“Adjustment of lifestyle to avoid tax liability” and “protest and refusal” are a few ways the National War Tax Resistance Coordination Committee offers guidance on their website to such conscientious scalawags.

A lifestyle change might include being self-employed as well as changing jobs frequently to evade the IRS.

“If you quit a job as soon as IRS levies your wages, they will often give up on trying to collect from you, or it might take them months or years to catch up with you at a new place of employment,” the group states in its publication “Practical War Tax Resistance #3.” The document comes with a disclaimer that some of the suggestions may be considered “criminal violations” of the Internal Revenue Code.

The National Priorities Project, a nonprofit that works “to educate the public on the impacts of federal tax and spending policies at the community level,” recently published a breakdown of fiscal 2006 federal income tax allocation.

Forty percent of the funds were poured into military expenses, the group said, while a scant 5 percent was thrown at education and less than half of that went to affordable housing programs.

But who wants a free education in lieu of bombs that might as well have our names on them? After all, intelligence isn’t going to win us any wars.

“For the amount of the cost of the Iraq war, we could provide university scholarships for every single graduating senior this year,” said Pamela Schwartz, communications director for NPP, during an interview on the radio show Democracy Now!

“It’s very disproportionate. I think the priorities of our government are very mixed up and backwards. We’re not bettering our nation,” Metro senior Patrick Lally said.

As a student and an opponent of war spending, I must concur. Expenses on current military endeavors, which do not include interest on war debt or veteran benefits, account for the highest percentage of federal income tax spending – 27 cents of every dollar.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s a waste,” Metro student Shiraz Choudhry said. “People work too hard just to pay for the military.”

Does it take balls to evade tax collectors? No doubt. Will it make a difference in the grand scheme? Maybe. Is it the right thing to do? You bet your sweet ass it is.

But if, like me, you lack the cojones to travel onto the other side of the law, consider writing to Congress. If enough people do the same, we might actually see some changes in tax allocation.