By Larry Rosewald Larry served NWTRCC's representative to the 11th
International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns in Woltersdorf,
Germany, October 26-29, 2006. He is active with New England War Tax Resistance
in Massachusetts. To set the scene, first: Woltersdorf is a small town just
east of Berlin, reputedly inhabited by German's new "radicals," i.e., neo-Nazis
(so I was told by a man I met in the streetcar that took me there), but very beautiful
and apparently placid, with a canal running through it. The Mayor of the town
showed up for a plenary session on "Responsibility" and spoke very movingly. The
conference itself took place at the "Haus Gottesfriede," i.e., the House of God's
Peace - a lovely and simple space, its name offering the first suggestion, though
not the last, of how religious an atmosphere this conference would have, much
more so than any American conference on wtr I've ever attended. There were
65 participants. The number was lower than average for these conferences; so was
the number of participants at the New England WTR gathering I attended in early
November. As a person attentive to numbers I found myself wondering whether this
reflected a decline in the strength of our movement. About half the participants
were from Germany, most of the rest from other European countries, with a few
Americans, one Canadian, and two participants from Ghana, and one each from Eritrea,
Nepal, and India. This was a more strikingly international profile than the other
conferences I have attended, and the Ghanaian and Eritrean participants in particular
had a big effect on the conference, shifting its perspective towards Africa's
nine wars and the role of the small armaments industry in making those wars possible.
In this largely European context, U.S.-style war tax resistance turned out
to be quite unusual. That is partly a question of demography, of who the participants
were. They are, as noted, more religious than we are, or at any rate more religious
on the whole than the WTRs I know or know of. More than a few were or had been
pastors or deacons or other religious functionaries. They are also less likely
than we are to be committed to renunciation, to voluntary poverty, to austerity.
They are also more focused on law and legislation than we are, by which I
mean several things. First, most of the Europeans are focused chiefly on something
like the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund, i.e., on convincing their national
legislatures to recognize a right of conscientious objection to military taxation.
(It is confusing for them, I think, that in the U.S. we have both an American
"national campaign," i.e., the NCPTF, and also a community or movement of war
tax resisters who are either supportive or not supportive of the NCPTF but in
any case separate from it.) Accordingly, they are more likely than we are to initiate
court actions (as opposed to being summoned into them), their goal in initiating
such actions being again to change the legal situation, in the court actions as
in the legislative campaigns. They are also more focused on the U.N. than we are,
and on other international courts, e.g., the European Court of Human Rights.
They are, on the other hand, less focused on building a movement of people who
will refuse war taxes, to the extent possible, here and now, in willingness to
suffer the consequences. There were few or no stories of houses being seized or
defended, of jobs being threatened or changed, or levies executed at banks or
workplaces. And there were no stories that I can recall of choosing a life of
voluntary simplicity in order not to be contributing to the military budget.
Some notable events at the conference, in more or less chronological order:
- At the first plenary session, Derek Brett, of Conscience and Peace Tax International,
summarized his quite impressive study of conscientious objection around the world.
The study is downloadable at http://cpti.ws/cpti_docs/brett/intro.html.
- Christian Bartolf, a German scholar of Gandhi and director of the Gandhi
Information Center, presented his campaign to get signatures for a petition against
military conscription. He has at the moment some 12,000 signatories, including
several winners of the Nobel Peace Prize (plus Studs Terkel and Pete Seeger).
See the text and signers at http://home.snafu.de/mkgandhi/manifest.htm.
- The British case of the Peace Tax Seven was perhaps the case most often and
prominently discussed at the conference. The British national campaign is hosting
the 2008 conference, partly in relation to this case; everyone wants to know how
it's going to turn out.) In that case, seven British opponents to war are seeking
an exemption from being required to pay taxes to the military. Their case has
been rejected by all the British courts to which they have turned, and they are
now heading for the European Court of Human Rights. They have made a dvd documenting
their case and are trying to raise some $100,000 for their court costs. (See http://www.peacetaxseven.com
for more details.)
- One prominent theme had to do with reaching young people.
Some conference participants were young, to be sure, but most were between 50
and 70, so one could feel the urgency of the theme just by looking around the
room. One response came from a Dutch group headed by Bart Horeman and associated
with Euro's Voor Freede; this group presented its website (not yet up and running),
which is aimed at young people, interactive, with lots of cool images. The focus
is mostly on lifestyle choices, and there is also a digital penny poll, frankly
borrowed from U.S. practice.
A second response was a workshop led by two young,
Berlin-based street theater teachers, Til Baumann and Harald Hahn. It turns out
to be both challenging and feasible to create images illustrating paying taxes
for peace. (Harald's website is at http://www.harald-hahn.de/,
and the section to look at is the one called "Politisches Aktionstheater," which
is in German but has some wonderful photographs.) Of all the workshops and presentations
at the conference, this was the one that left me most hopeful in its direct relation
to wtr and in its capacity to engage young people. See photos from the
conference at http://peacetax-2006.com/
[Return to List of Headlines] By Susan Balzer
Las Vegas is not the kind of place that this modest Mennonite would ordinarily
choose to go to for a vacation, and, except for a few hours on the strip on Saturday
night, my visit there November 2-5 was far different from that of a tourist. I
saw a side of Las Vegas that tourists rarely see and had the opportunity to interact
with people ministering to their neighbors and working to stop war and the preparation
for war. In Las Vegas I spent time with 20 members of NWTRCC, our group's
hosts at the Las Vegas Catholic Worker, and people active in the Nevada Desert
Experience and Pace e Bene. Las Vegas is a glittering city at night. Its replicas
of the Eiffel Tower, Pyramids, and Space Needle rise high into the sky. The daring
can ride a roller coaster around the top of the Needle. Some gamblers risk more
than their money, such as the man who enters a glass-enclosed lion's den to feed
the female lion and tempt it to go right up to the glass to show its teeth to
the guests at the MGM Grand Hotel. Behind the scenes, some people live normal,
middle class lives. Others are not so blessed. Our host said there are 4,000
children in foster care in the city. The Catholic Worker and other charitable
organizations run soup kitchens and give shelter to many of the city's homeless
people. An hour away from the city, the U.S. government continues to do subcritical
nuclear testing in violation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that the government
signed in 1992. According to the Nevada Desert Experience, the U.S. is currently
spending more on its nuclear weapons' program than it did at any point in the
Cold War. During the NWTRCC meetings participants worked on plans for producing
educational videos, contributed to editing a practical booklet on simple/low income
living, talked about the roles money plays in our lives and society, connected
war tax refusal to other peace and justice issues, saw a video produced by Common
Ground in New Orleans about the Hurricane Katrina disaster, witnessed at the Nevada
Test Site, heard a report from the international conference on War Tax Resistance
and Peace Tax Campaigns, wrote notes to encourage fellow war tax resisters in
difficult situations, helped with the soup kitchen and conducted biannual business.
NWTRCC accepted the Heartland Peace Tax group's invitation to host the November
2007 meeting here in central Kansas. Our setting will look different from Las
Vegas, but the objectives will be similar: to provide a time and place for active
war tax resisters/refusers/redirectors to meet and fellowship with each other
and people active in the local peace community and to encourage people who pray
for peace to take the next step and not pay for war. This is a slightly
edited version of an article that was published in The Harvey County Independent
(KS). Susan Balzer is a journalist and member of NWTRCC's Administrative Committee.
[Return to List of Headlines] It is with great sadness that we report
the November 17 death of Marian Franz, who directed the National Campaign for
a Peace Tax Fund for 24 years. She was at the founding conference of NWTRCC 1982
and remained a friend ever since. There will be a tribute in our next issue. See
also http://www.peacetaxfund.org/news/2006-11-30marian.htm
[Return to List of Headlines]
Refused Redirection IGreg Reagle of Washington, DC, writes: For tax year
2005 I redirected the money I owed to 10 different organizations. One of those
organizations is a federal government agency [a national park]. I think you will
find the response interesting. I found it amusing as well as frustrating. I chose
not to follow up because I suppose their lawyer(s) advised them to refuse. It's
actually a very nice letter. Dear Mr. Reagle: This letter is in response
to your donation of $200. We appreciate very much your contribution. However,
in your correspondence you included a copy of a letter you wrote to the Internal
Revenue Service that states you are redirecting your federal income taxes to organizations
such as [this park], and that you were doing this as a form of tax resistance.
[We] can only accept donations that are intended solely for the mission of
the National Park Service. Many who make this donation use it as a tax deduction.
To accept your donation would make us culpable in an illegal act of tax resistance.
We believe it was not your intention to involve us in what you define as an act
of conscience. However, because of the circumstances it remains impossible for
us to accept your donation. Your $200 money order is being returned to you and
is enclosed. We wish you well, and hope you will continue to appreciate and
value [this park]. Sincerely…… Refused Redirection IIBill and Genie
Durland of Colorado Springs have taken their case of "refused redirection" to
Tax Court, although the IRS has moved to dismiss the case. The Durlands sent a
check of about half of what they owed to the IRS and the other half to the Social
Security Administration SSA). As semi-retired senior citizens the Durlands' livelihood
is partly dependent on social security payments; they attempt to live on less,
as conscientious pacifist Christians opposed to institutional violence and war
making every - where. They chose to redirect the amount they could not pay for
those purposes to a nonviolent branch of the government and one that the Bush
administration had said was headed to bankruptcy. The Durlands contend they
met their obligations to the U.S. government. The IRS contends they were not paid
the full amount and that the Durlands must pay them again for the amount the SSA
deposited in that U.S. government account. The IRS continues its collection efforts,
while the Durlands have provided the court with careful arguments concerning the
government's efforts at "unjust enrichment" and conscience. "The exercise
of such awesome governmental power desecrates the rights of religious conscience
by a political administration which claims to bring democracy abroad while dismantling
it here," the Durlands said in their October 2005 press release at the onset of
this case. More information and a copy of the court documents are available from
the NWTRCC office. [Return to List of Headlines]
We are grateful for the
contributions from each of you who responded to our November fund appeal (there's
still time to respond of course) and to these groups for their recent affiliation
fees:
Ithaca War Tax Resistance
Maine War Tax Resistance Resource
Center
War Resisters League, National Office And a few end-of-the-year
thanks yous to:
Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
for hosting
the May meeting
Las Vegas Catholic Worker
for hosting the November
meeting
Lakeside Press, Madison, Wisconsin,
for printing our newsletter
and literature
(not for free but at a very good price!) [Return
to List of Headlines] Great
Lakes Region: New Area Contact-Bill Ruhaak, Joliet, IL, billruhaak@hotmail.com
The Network list has been updated for 2006 with most groups and individuals
listed on the NWTRCC website at http://www.nwtrcc.org/contactN2.htm.
Affiliates, counselors, and area contacts may request a complete printed listing
from Ruth Benn at the NWTRCC office. [Return to List of Headlines] Successful Outreach at SOAWThose
of us who worked the war tax resistance table at the School of the Americas Watch
(SOAW) weekend, November 17-19, were blown away by the response to our survey
effort. We got in the neighborhood of 1,000 war tax resistance surveys filled
out! When added to the ones already in hand, we're now about 30% of the way towards
our goal of 5,000 (see the NWTRCC meeting report). Thanks
to Daniel Woodham, Mary Regan, David Waters, Adele Kushner, and Peg Morton for
their hard work in Columbus. Beth Lavoie of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition
helped us get surveys completed by folk hanging out at their table. And of course
we're grateful to Bill Ramsey for putting together a wonderful survey kit with
all the clipboards and trays. I think it was one of the most exciting presences
we've had at SOAW. Asking people to fill out the survey gave us much more interaction
than leafleting, which we've done in past years. (Our message did get out to everyone
because NWTRCC had an ad in the SOAW printed program, which was handed out to
all of the 20,000 people who came; we even found it available in the lobbies of
the motels in town.) People asked questions, got a little on-the-spot mini-counseling,
were given the materials they needed (most often the new flyer on W-4 resistance,
which we used up and had to re-copy), and sometimes went away with a local contact
from our network list. About 50 people signed up for introductory packets, and
we got 16 names on the "Don't Pay for War in Iraq!" call to tax resistance. Our
literature sales matched the best we've done in the past. For more about
the whole weekend and the campaign to close the school see http://www.soaw.org.
-Robert Randall, Brunswick, GA WTR on the Big & Small Screen"Boston
Legal" (ABC, Mar. 14, 2006) In the episode called "Stick It" Melissa (Marisa
Coughlan)-in a legally highly unlikely sequence of events-is arrested and put
on trial for tax evasion because she put a note on her 1040 return saying "stick
it" when she refused to pay her war taxes. One of the best parts of this episode
is the jury summation given by her lawyer, Alan Shore (James Spader)-a terrific
defense of why someone might refuse to pay as a matter of conscience. The speech
is linked from the music note on the NWTRCC homepage, http://www.nwtrcc.org/wtr_music.htm.
"Stranger Than Fiction" (Sony Pictures, Nov. 2006) This film
features an IRS agent Will Ferrell) who audits Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal),
a war tax resisting hippie anarchist baker. It turns out that the agent realizes
that he is the fictional creation of a writer (Emma Thompson) who is seeking to
kill him off in her novel. While not much more than a mention in the film, we
are impressed that the idea of war tax resistance has appeared in a major studio
film. WTR Ads AvailablePlease copy and use these ads in your publications,
on your letters and flyers, on bulletin board notices and help spread the word
about WTR. If you would like high resolution versions emailed to you, please contact
the NWTRCC office at nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org. Ads
are also posted for your use on our website at http://www.nwtrcc.org/publications.htm.
Click on the link for "Downloadable Outreach and Information Flyers." To NWTRCC
from InsideDear Friends, So glad to hear from you all. I am pleased to
let you know that as some of you have wished for me to have, a peaceful stay,
that is what it is. I count my blessings for that, and all of the support and
comforting letters I have received. Many people write to me with such comforting,
encouraging words. Some are even inspiring. Some are so kind and thoughtful that
I am refreshed in my heart, and grateful for the humanity of it. I am doing
as well, I think, as one can do under these circumstances. And while I see no
end in sight for our plight, I feel strong and convicted. As you may be aware,
the government is going to insist that we compromise our faith and convictions
for peace and morality. Our Godly motives are trumped by the Department of Justice
and the Tax Codes-a tax as we all know, that finances murder. How can we ever
surrender to that! I pray that our stands produce some fruit on which we can
all benefit. I have no doubt that we are doing the right thing. It may take some
time to reach our goals. Whatever happens, I feel a comfort in my heart that comes
from a clear conscience. I know you can all relate to that. Your letter and thoughts
are most comforting. I must agree with Mr. Hedemann who wrote that the need to
imprison us reflects the fear this government has of our belief." I without a
doubt believe that. All they have is brute force-while we trust in Yahweh God).
I will always be satisfied with the latter, and find strength in those who share
the same. - Love to all,
Joseph Donato #40884-050,
FCI Fairton-Satellite
Camp,
PO Box 420, Fairton, NJ 08320 Editor's Note: Joe Donato and
Kevin McKee are members of Restored Israel of Yahweh in New Jersey. They are serving
27- and 24-month sentences on charges related to their refusal to pay for war.
(See MTAP August 2005.)
Please continue to write them. - Kevin McKee, #40886-050,
FCI
Schuylkill Satellite Camp,
PO Box 670,
Minersville, PA 17954 [Return
to List of Headlines]
Back in Stock!Two books by Donald Kaufman, NWTRCC friend, member of the Heartland
Peace Tax Fund and the Mennonite church, are back in print and updated. What
Belongs to Caesar? A Discussion on the Christian's Response to Payment of War
Taxes has a section exploring three basic arguments against the voluntary
payment of war taxes. Tax Dilemma: Praying for Peace, Paying for War includes
in this edition the insights 42 other writers. The royalties from sales of each
book benefit either the Peace Tax Foundation or NWTRCC-another incentive to purchase
these books for your peace action library-or for your public library! Order
from Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 West 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene OR 97401,
(541)344-1528, or online at www.wipfandstock.com.
Inserts in this IssueAn extra sheet is inserted with the issue.
One side is a new sign-on statement (http://www.nwtrcc.org/Iraq_pages/iraqpage.html).
for people who pledge to refuse to some or all of their 2006 income taxes. Please
copy and use this form at your tables and events and send the sheets to the NWTRCC
office. We will publicize the numbers of war tax resisters who sign on during
the coming tax season. On the reverse is the flyer to promote our video contest.
See http://www.nwtrcc.org/videocontest.htm.
Please make copies and mail to students, video teachers, colleges, high schools,
and any special film and video programs in your area. NWTRCC needs your help to
make this project a success! [Return to List of Headlines]
NWTRCC Launches Video
Contestand other Highlights of the Coordinating Committee Meeting Since
the Strategy Conference in 2005 a small committee has been developing plans for
using more video clips on the NWTRCC website or as advertising for war tax resistance,
along with plugging away at plans to make a longer piece for use in workshops
and community showings. In order to create these video shorts that are so popular
these days, the Coordinating Committee (CC) accepted a proposal to launch a video
contest. The "Don't Pay for War" video contest asks for entries of 30 seconds
- 2 minutes that will appeal to U.S. taxpayers, especially young people who are
starting to get paychecks. All the information about the contest is on our website
at http://www.nwtrcc.org/videocontest.htm.
We are asking all readers to help get out the word about this contest. Please
copy the flyer on the website and email the link to everyone you know-especially
teachers and students who can help spread the word into new networks. We hope
that all of you will think of the schools and colleges near you that have video
programs, and send them the contest information. The video contest website includes
links to sample videos and information about war tax resistance for those new
to wtr. We hope to have winners by early April so that we can announce them before
tax day. There are prizes of $300, $200, and $100 for the top three entries.
Other exciting news from the meeting is that our Practical #5 on Low Income War
Tax Resistance is getting a much needed update. David Gross of San Francisco volunteered
for this project and has solicited ideas and updates from people who were involved
in the current edition and people new to our network. A rough draft was presented
at the meeting and a committee has formed to review a final draft in mid-December.
We hope to have a new version printed early in 2007. The War Tax Resistance
Survey (http://www.nwtrcc.org/survey.htm)
led to a lively discussion in a small group about the merits of the survey itself
and whether the results we had received thus far were enough to make an educated
decision about whether to proceed with a one-year resistance campaign or not.
About 300 surveys were received by the time of our meeting, and it was agreed
that we should set a goal of 5,000 surveys returned by our next meeting in May
2007. At that point we will be able to say more definitively what percentage of
those responding would participate in a national campaign; if a high percentage
is positive, this information will be taken to peace movement leaders to impress
upon them the need to move to a new level of resistance and refuse to pay for
war. Enclosed with this issue you will find the results of another small group's
work in Las Vegas (no time to hit the slots for us!). NWTRCC last initiated a
sign-on statement (http://www.nwtrcc.org/Iraq_pages/iraqpage.html)
before the war in Iraq began, and it is time to make our refusal to pay for this
war more public. Please copy the statement and help collect signatures; use it
with your local groups and in local newspapers. If you have contact with well-known
persons who would increase our visibility, please secure their pledge, and let
the NWTRCC office know right away.. We will plan publicity around this statement
with the coming tax season. Return signed copies to the NWTRCC office, and tell
us how you are using it. Finally, we passed a budget for the new fiscal year
that begins December 1 and set our work objectives for the coming year. The minutes
of the meeting and accompanying papers are on our website at http://www.nwtrcc.org/nov06minutes.htm,
or contact the office if you would like a paper copy mailed to you. Nominations
Needed!NWTRCC's Administrative Committee (AdComm) seeks 2 new alternate members
to help with organizational decision-making and process. New members will be selected
at the May 2007 meeting with terms starting after the meeting. Alternates serve
three years total: one year as alternate plus two as full members. Meetings are
twice a year with occasional emails and phone calls during the year. Current members
are Susan Balzer* (KS), Daniel Woodham* (NC), Alice Liu (CA), Clark Hanjian (MA),
Robert Randall (GA, alternate), and Pam Allee (OR, alternate). Susan and Daniel
complete their terms in May. Please contact the NWTRCC office for a job description,
or send in nominations and we will follow up with further details. Affiliate groups
should make a special effort to offer nominations. Self nominations are welcome.
Deadline is March 14, 2007. [Return to List of Headlines]
Dear MTAP: The
article on obedience in the recent newsletter was interesting. I think the root
of our obedience is in childhood*, when we are totally dependent on adults for
survival and are conditioned to obey, as are all animal young. But there is always
the spark of self-determination there also! *In other words it's biologic-animals
also have packs with leaders. Aanya Adler Friess, Albuquerque, NM Dear
MTAP: The era of Empire is coming to an end, one way or another, because for
human beings great concentrations of power are self destructive. We need egalitarian
democratic culture, what David C. Korten (The Great Turning) calls "Earth Community,"
to survive. Where Korten goes wrong is in basing his "new story " on goofy
New Age spirituality. Ambiguous obscure concepts don't work for teaching cooperation
and shared responsibility. Esoteric ideas give the upper hand to con artists and
charlatans. He says, "Earth Community enjoys the ultimate advantage, because the
natural human drive-if not blocked-is to grow in capacity and understanding and
to connect with ever expanding circles of life. Political extremists must engage
in manipulation and deception to thwart this natural impulse." (p. 330). To
the contrary, the natural human tendency probably is to form dominance hierarchies
as do all other social apes. Manipulation and deception to gain and hold power
is the norm, the default condition, where people have not been carefully taught
to practice egalitarian democratic principles. Dale L. Berry, Grants, NM [Return
to List of Headlines] Annual
New England WTR Gathering War tax resisters from several parts of New England
converged at the Voluntown Peace Trust in eastern Connecticut for the 21st annual
New England Regional Gathering of War Tax Resisters and Supporters. The theme
this year was "Resisting Militarism and Materialism: Our Lifestyles and the Roots
of War." The turnout was smaller than usual, about 25-30 people and mostly
veterans of several or many previous gatherings; it provided a friendly and supportive
atmosphere for reunion visits with WTRs we hadn't seen in a year or two. In our
Sunday evaluation, we recognized the value of support but also the need to bring
new WTRs into the loop. We hope to sponsor more local and statewide one-day clinics
and events in addition to the annual gathering. Staff of the Voluntown Peace
Trust entertained and educated us on Friday night with a theater piece on "Toward
a More Holistic Resistance." We focused on the connections between militarism
and materialism in discussions during much of Saturday, although most WTRs there
were living near or below taxable level. We recognized that not all WTRs want
to scale back their lifestyles and that we need to address their concerns also.
I enjoyed an exercise where we identified several problems preventing us from
ending materialism (such as capitalism and a glut of information), naming the
pillars that held up those problems, and finding ways to nonviolently tear down
those pillars. Our annual Talent Show on Saturday evening included music,
stand-up comedy, and skits created especially for our weekend by former NWTRCC
coordinator Karen Marysdaughter. In one of those, Juanita Nelson "beat" three
other reality show contestants to be declared "The Biggest Resister." Staying
at the historic Voluntown Peace Trust (formerly the Community for Nonviolent Action)
was a treat, as was delicious food compliments of Pacifeast Caterers (aka New
England War Resisters League staff Rick Gaumer and Joanne Sheehan). We left
with renewed friendships and more energy to continue and promote WTR in our local
communities. -Larry Dansinger, Maine WTR Resource Center [Return
to List of Headlines] A Correspondence
with the IRS: Late Penalty Saga Some time ago David Ahlfeld of Amherst,
Massachusetts, sent us the sequence of steps he and his wife Victoria Dickson
went through after the IRS sent them a letter that their 2003 tax filing, which
had included a cover letter about refusing to pay for war, constituted a frivolous
return (an inaccurate reading of the frivolous designation by the IRS). As we
often hear, persistence can pay off with the IRS, at least in releasing improper
fines. In addition, many people ask how long it takes the IRS to respond or to
collect, so this might be of interest from that angle. Finally, it serves as a
good example of keeping a timeline of correspondence with the IRS, which can be
helpful when questions arise. April 15, 2003 - filed IRS forms
to Holtsville, New York, with a cover letter stating why the amount due cannot
be paid to the IRS. July 11, 2003 - received letter from Ogden, Utah,
office indicating that we had filed a frivolous claim. We refiled copies of the
same forms and learned that we had gotten a late filing penalty. The notice indicated
we should write to Holtsville if we had any questions or problems. November
4, 2003 - we wrote to Holtsville with an appeal. December. 3, 2003
- we received letter from Holtsville saying they hadn't gotten to our letter yet
(I guess they are supposed to respond within 30 days). January 22, 2004
- we received a letter from Holtsville saying they had sent our file to Ogden,
and that we should be hearing from Ogden soon. June 6, 2004 - having
heard nothing from Ogden, I wrote back to Holtsville to inquire of the status
of our appeal. July 13, 2004 - received a letter from Philadelphia IRS
office saying that the appeal was denied because we could not justify our late
filing (for example, because of serious illness). Of course, this was not what
we had been appealing! July 28, 2004 - we write a new detailed letter
clearly stating our appeal. "As I understand, the IRS believes that our original
return, filed April 15, 2003, was frivolous. The IRS believes that the same return
filed in August of 2003 was not frivolous. The IRS imposed a late filing penalty
based on the determination that we did not file until August of 2003. Our position
is that the return filed April 15, 2003 was not frivolous. Hence, there is no
need for a late penalty since we did not file late." August 18, 2004
- get letter from Philadelphia saying they are sending our appeal to IRS Holtsville
Appeals Team. September 13, 2004 - we get letter from Appeals team saying
they will consider our appeal. January 3, 2005 - get letter from Holtsville
Appeals Team removing the penalty. January 2006 - we got a call from
the collections office saying that they were about to seize assets. We decided
to just ignore this. March 2006 - they issued a levy on funds that we
had in the bank and took them a few weeks later. So, that ends that chapter. I
continue to work at a job in which taxes are withheld. We try to minimize the
taxes with pre-tax savings plans and by giving away the money that we don't need.
-David Ahlfeld DECODING IRS ADDRESSESBecause the IRS has begun to
organize its "service centers" according to function (e.g., "frivolous" fine letters
apparently all come from Utah) rather than geography, we are trying to determine
what function correlates with which service center. We would appreciate your help
by telling us what kinds of IRS letters you get from which IRS offices. Please
send copies of your letters by mail or send a short description of their purpose
to NWTRCC (nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org), and be sure
to mention your location (city and state). [Return
to List of Headlines] [Return
to NWTRCC home ]
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