This Autist did not pay her taxes

Now is the time to resist. Here is how I am doing so.

This Autist did not pay her taxes
A white and tabby patched cat rolls on a pile of various countries' currency, playing with two US $20 bills. Image credit https://www.flickr.com/photos/70561195@N00/6513001321

It's sad and infuriating that RFK misinformed the public about autism occurrences, symptoms, and causes without qualifier. But if he's going to lie about a serious disability that many Americans, including myself, face, it's also sad he did it after tax day. Because I did not pay my taxes in protest of the States' ongoing financial support of Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people and of DOGE's life-threatening destabilization of the federal government, and wow I would have made a crack about Autists not paying taxes in my letter if he'd spouted this garbage sooner. Opportunity missed.

As it is, the letter I mailed the IRS in lieu of my taxes is shared below. I share it because as the Guardian columnist Judith Levine and anti-war tax resisters have pointed out, the whole point of protesting by withholding tax revenues is to do it loudly and proudly. Please don't read this thinking I will judge you for paying your own taxes-we all need to resist the less-creeping-and-more-zooming authoritarianism on the rise according to our own risk tolerances. That said, resistance will inherently carry risk. But now is the time to resist, because the risks of resisting later will only worsen.

To the professionals at the IRS,

For the 2024 tax year, I have filed a tax return that indicates I owe $1,199.00 [n.b. on including the amount is below]. I am withholding payment of these taxes in protest of the following:

  1. The US government’s continuing violation of The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d.) and of Section 362 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, popularly known as The Leahy Law.
  2. The current presidential administration’s continuous aid and abetting of Elon Musk and his employees’ violation of The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 522a),18 U.S. Code 2071, and potentially far more federal laws that protect Americans’ health and safety via Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.

As a law-abiding American, I cannot in good conscience offer material support to efforts that violate both federal law, international human rights law, and the law of common decency. Instead, I will donate this money to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, out of a desire to make reparations to Palestinian children injured, orphaned, and otherwise traumatized by the unimaginable violence that our nation has been and remains complicit in perpetrating. Once the following is accomplished, I will happily resume regular payment of taxes:

  1. The State of Israel is placed under a full arms embargo, all monetary aid to the State of Israel is halted, the U.S. assets of known Israeli war criminals are frozen, and arrest warrants are issued for those reasonably believed to have committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians, regardless of their nationality
  2. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s ongoing activities are halted, and a full investigation is conducted to hold accountable anyone who has broken the law at the behest of the hostile foreign actor by the name of Elon Musk, or any other person deputized by him
  3. All persons harmed by DOGE’s illegal activities are made whole, including the reinstatement of federal employees and contractors who were unlawfully terminated by DOGE with full back pay

Reader, I’d like to thank you for your service to our country to date, and urge you to ensure this letter reaches the appropriate decisionmakers in government.

Very sincerely,

Amanda Gilmore

Philadelphia, PA

<My SSN, since you have to include that on checks to pay taxes>

n.b. from above: I included the amount of taxes I owe instead of redacting it for a few reasons. Firstly, I think this helps contextualize why I chose tax resistance. It shows the reader that I (probably? Hopefully?) am of sufficient means that the consequences of withholding taxes won't bankrupt me. This may not be the case for you! Secondly I think talking pay with peers is important, otherwise that's how the billionaires get to be billionaires. I make tech buxx and it's important to me to use those buxx to fight the damn billionaires and support those hurt by them as I can.