About War Tax Resistance
“Let them march all they want so long as they continue to pay their taxes.”
—General Alexander Haig
War tax resistance is a movement of peace activists who refuse to pay all or a portion of their income tax, or who make a conscious decision to live simply and reduce their income to below-taxable level. (Believe it or not, such simple living is possible even in New York City.)
In the last three decades, 49%-60% of our federal income tax has continued to finance war. For the current fiscal Federal Budget, see the War Resister’s League Budget Pie, which shows how the federal government has masked military spending. The military portion of the federal budget is now 51%. Imagine more than half the budget going to military expenditure, including nuclear weaponry we are unable to dispose of safely. Storing nuclear waste is still an unsolved and
vexing problem. Surplus equipment often winds up in the hands of foreign countries in turmoil. These local civil conflicts can easily escalate into major wars. That is to say nothing of our the ongoing and escalating conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.