Wars rage around the world virtually all of them paid for by your tax dollars. In fact War Tax Resistance (WTR) is one way to show the U. S. Government that you are not going to support their aggression and imperialism. In 2024 47% or almost 2.3 billion dollars of our tax dollars went to keep the U.S. military alive and fighting. This is money that could be used to build the peaceful and just world we all want. This page will teach you the basics of WTR. There are links to national organizations who have years of experience in the WTR movement, videos and lots of flyers to download and learn from.
What You Need to Know: the Basic of War Tax Resistance
It is impossible to conduct modern warfare without soldiers and weapons. But before governments can buy weapons and hire soldiers, they must first raise the necessary money through taxes or borrowing. War tax resistance is refusing to pay some or all of those federal taxes that contribute to military spending. Learn more
Historically, military spending has been the single largest portion of the Federal Funds budget. Since World War II, the percentage that goes to the military — current and past spending — has varied from 45 to 90 percent.
People take many roads to war tax resistance. Most are motivated by a combination of reasons and actively work for peace in many other ways too. If you consider your motivations this will help you determine your method of resistance.
Direct action for peace often entails exposure to unpredictable risks. War tax resistance is no exception. However, if you continue to pay war taxes, you contribute to global insecurity, nuclear terrorism, and imperialism, you put innocent people in harm’s way, and you risk the moral injury of knowing that you are complicit in such things.
Refusing to pay taxes for war is probably as old as the first taxes levied for warfare. There have been instances of people refusing to pay taxes for war in virtually every American war, but it was not until World War II and the establishment of a permanent, centralized U.S. military was the modern war tax resistance movement born.
Materials to Download and Share
Where Your Income Taxes Really Go
Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Fiscal Year 2024 (Released March 2023) Pie Chart Flyer in English, in color (pdf) in English, black & white (pdf).
Find more information here
Peace Tax Return
Anyone can use the Peace Tax Return to protest military spending or to report their resistance. The flyer is designed to roughly resemble a tax form. Who should use this form?
- people who want to register a protest against paying taxes for war
- people who refuse to pay some or all of their federal taxes because they are spent on war Download the PDF
Your Money or Your Life
Flyer for students and young adults making the connection between military recruiting and tax paying for war and ideas and links for making choices. (PDF)
What If..
This popular, downloadable flyer draws together reasons to protest federal tax money spent on oppression at home with militarism and endless wars and connects readers to resources for more information on protesting with their money.
War Tax Resistance Videos
YOU can take control over where your tax paying dollars go
Say NO to funding arms sales, weapon testing, nuclear power, and military aid
For more information contact: Syracuse Peace Council, 2013 E. Genesee Street Syracuse NY 13210