Woody Schwartz War Tax Redirection Fund

1. Introduction
2. The Federal Telephone Tax
3. Steps for Phone Bill Tax Resistance
4. Costs and Risks

   Elaine "Woody" Schwartz was a radical pacifist who led a life of joyful resistance. She was a war tax resister who would not voluntarily contribute her telephone and income taxes to wars of the past, present and future, to land mines, napalm, agent orange, and other inhumane acts. She withheld and directed those monies toward human needs of food, clothing, shelter, education and preventive medical services.

   Woody's last activities, while dying of breast cancer, were to publicize the need for organ (liver) donation and to protest the monies from the sale of the Breast Cancer stamp going to the Department of Defense (formerly the War Department).

   The Woody Schwartz War Tax Redirection Fund was set up by living friends to help people of conscience more easily redirect withheld telephone and income taxes. They can now joyfully and relatively painlessly make donations to be distributed to local social programs, agencies and organizations. Withholding as little as one penny and telling the government why the token money is being withheld, is personally empowering and a statement to our democratic government.

The Federal Telephone Tax

   The federal excise tax itemized on our telephone bills has been associated with war throughout most of its long history.

   Imposed as a "temporary" tax by the War Tax Revenue Act of 1914, this tax has been used to help raise extra dollars for World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, as well as weapons of every conceivable kind.

   In 1990, the telephone tax became permanent, set at 3%. While the legislative act which changed the tax’s status stated that the revenue raised would fund child care, the simple fact is that all of this money will go into the General Fund, just as it always has.

   The majority of the money in the General Fund, including the telephone excise tax, will continue to help finance a global policy based on military might, weapons of mass destruction, and the expansion of militarism into outer space.

Steps for Phone Bill Tax Resistance

1. Deduct the federal excise tax and remit the rest of the bill along with a copy of our form or a personal statement.
2. When your resisted total reaches at least $5.00, make a check payable to Sonoma County Taxes for Peace, earmarked for WSWTRF, 467 Sebastopol Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95401.
3. After three months, if the phone company hasn't deducted the amount you withhrld, remind them to do so.
4. The IRS may send you unfriendly notices saying you may have been duped into thinking the government has no right to tax you. This gives you another opportunity to educate them. Eventully they may raid your bank for the withheld amount plus penalty and interest. The cost top the government of collection will be more than the amount they will collect.
5. Help the fund choose recipients of the monies.

   The telephone company serves as a collection agency for the IRS and reports to them quarterly the amout of taxes you have refused. The IRS occasionally and sporadically sends notices, over the years, of the taxes due plus penalties and interest.

   The penalty for late payment is 1/2% per month up to a maximum of 25% of the unpaid tax, and the interest is 8% per year of the unpaid tax. If you owed $5.21 and it took the IRS three years to collect, you would owe an additional $2.19 in penalties and interest.

   Other possible, but unlikely, costs include a charge by your bank ($50 at Cal Fed) for paying an IRS levy from your account and a charge by the county ($16 in Sonoma County, CA) for filing and later a notice of federal tax lien.

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