Trump's Illegal War in Iran Is Financed by Your Taxes. That's a Good Reason To Stop Paying Them.
If Congress will not deploy the power of the purse to restrain a lawless administration and an illegal war, then it falls to the public to do so.
This Tax Day, America needs a tax revolt.
The executive branch is out of control. We're now more than six weeks into a deeply unpopular, unnecessary war with Iran that lacks any semblance of congressional authorization. The Trump administration has sent masked, unaccountable goons into American cities, where they have harassed and arrested innocent people and killed multiple times. President Donald Trump's signature economic policy is an illegal tax increase that his administration is refusing to refund.
Congress has been unwilling or unable to stop these unlawful actions. If legislators will not deploy "the power of the purse," then it falls to the rest of us to do something.
That's why I have stopped paying the federal income tax. I'm not the only one doing it. I think you should, too.
What can this accomplish? I'm not naive enough to believe that my paltry contribution to the federal coffers matters much—I just finished filing my 2025 taxes and paid a sum in the low-five-figures. This is, first and foremost, a moral calculation rather than a fiscal one.
It's roughly the same conclusion that Henry David Thoreau reached when he looked at a federal government waging an unnecessary, unpopular war abroad and violently suppressing fundamental rights at home. "What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn," he concluded.
There is probably never a bad time to revisit Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" (or to read it for the first time). The essay, first published in 1849, was a response to the then-ongoing Mexican-American War and the state-level debates over policies similar to what would eventually become the Fugitive Slave Act, a federal law passed in 1850 requiring that escaped slaves be returned to their owners, even if captured in states that banned slavery. As a rumination on the relationship between citizens and the state, perhaps only the Declaration of Independence is a more important text. There is a good reason why "Civil Disobedience" influenced everyone from Mahatma Gandhi to Leo Tolstoy to Martin Luther King, Jr.
On this Tax Day, many of us should grapple with the same question that Thoreau did. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday shows that just 24 percent of Americans believe the Iran War has been "worth it." The majority of Americans oppose the war, yet we are continuing to fund it at the rate of billions of dollars every day.
What can be done? That's ultimately a question everyone has to answer for themselves. I believe that Thoreau's conclusion is a good one: Do not lend support to the wrongdoing.
Were you waving a flag or banner at a "No Kings" protest in the past six months? That's fine and good. But then why continue sending a portion of your hard-earned money to the Trump administration? Yes, the federal government borrows much of what it spends these days. A cratering of tax receipts in the coming months wouldn't immediately grind the gears of government to a halt, but it would certainly cause a reaction in Washington.
"If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood," Thoreau wrote.
Are there any better ways to signal your disagreement? Many critics of the administration are eager for the midterms in November—but is one single vote really more valuable than thousands of dollars in taxes that you'll pay between now and then?
Indeed, if the millions of Americans who plan to vote in November were to cancel their income tax withholding this week, it would certainly have a more immediate impact, and arguably a larger one. (That's even more true in an era when so few congressional districts are actually competitive, rendering so many votes utterly meaningless.) By all means, vote your conscience—or abstain from voting, if that's what your conscience says to do—but please don't accept the premise that voting is the only way to send a signal in a democratic system.
So, don't wait for November. Voice your disagreement now. Stop paying your federal income tax.
Practically, here's what I'm suggesting. Simply eliminate the automatic withholding of income tax from your pay.
This is much easier than you might believe it to be.
"If I wanted to turn off my income tax withholding, how difficult would that be?" is the question I put to our CFO last week. "Not especially hard," was the reply. He was right. All it took was a follow-up email, and the deed was done. I am utterly lost when it comes to managing any aspect of human resources—so if I can do this, so can you.
What about the consequences of this decision? In the very short term, there are none.
In the absence of income tax withholding, federal law requires quarterly "estimated tax" payments. Failing to make those can result in a penalty when this year's taxes are due next April.
If the Trump administration changes course between now and next year, or if the midterms are successful at creating a congressional majority more interested in checking the excesses of the executive branch, then you'll have the option to pay what's owed and carry on. In the meantime, however, you'll have stopped lending material support to the federal government's illegal actions.
And don't let the potential consequences dissuade you. Yes, Thoreau famously went to jail (for one night) as punishment for refusing to pay his taxes. In modern times, however, very few tax protesters have been hauled into federal court, and fewer still have been jailed.
"In fact, only two war tax resisters—James Otsuka (1949) and J. Tony Serra (2005)—were ever jailed for not paying taxes," according to the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee. (The group also provides some helpful guidance on determining what part of your federal taxes is used for wars, if you want to make a partial payment.)
In fact, some careful planning and savvy investing of your larger, tax-free paycheck might leave you better off—the federal government doesn't pay interest if you have too much tax withheld, after all. I'll be setting aside the amount of money that I would have paid in taxes each month, investing it in a stable mutual fund, and hoping the illegal war and/or illegal tariffs don't dent those earnings too much. (I'll report back on how this works out, but please don't take any of this as actual financial advice.)
When next April rolls around, you'll have a decision to make—and that's when I'll weigh the consequences too.
Here's what I plan to do, because if you've read this far, you're probably wondering about these things.
Yes, I'm still paying the federal payroll taxes that fund Medicare and Social Security—yes, despite disliking how both those programs run. Those are separate pots of money, not directly funding the war or the bloody immigration crackdown.
Yes, I'm also continuing to have income tax withheld by the state of Virginia, where I live. State governments can also violate rights—and I'm wary about many of the ideas kicking around Richmond right now. Even so, Gov. Abigail Spanberger is not waging an illegal war, has not illegally taxed commerce, and has not sent masked goons into the streets to intimidate, harass, and murder Americans and immigrants. Seems like an important distinction. We can and should fight usual policy disagreements in the usual political channels.
Again, some guidance from Thoreau. Not every injustice can be met with maximum resistance, he notes in "Civil Disobedience." In fact, it is often true that we should abide by or quietly ignore laws that don't make sense or aren't entirely legal.
But when certain lines have been crossed, there is a moral obligation to respond. America needs a tax revolt to show the government who is really in charge.
