To: Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Copies to : Rep. Dwight Evans, Senator Bob Casey, Senator Patrick J. Toomey, President Joseph Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris
To my government representatives,
My tax return says that I owe $ 355.00 in taxes. Following my practice for the past 13 years I am once again writing to explain why I will not pay the amount I owe to the federal government. Currently the majority of every tax dollar goes to pay for past, present, and future wars. I can not pay for war. I am not against taxes, but I first need to follow God’s law, “Thou shalt not kill.”
In addition to paying for foreign wars, our taxes are now funding “war” against USA citizens, mostly people of color. The 1033 Program allows the Department of Defense to get rid of excess equipment by passing it off to local authorities, thereby militarizing our USA police forces and treating civilians in our communities the same as armed combatants in a war zone. The Office of the Inspector General, the USA Department of Defense, the USA Government Accountability Office, the NAACP, and the ACLU are among the many critics of this program. The 1033 program equipment is now used to counter nonviolent demonstrations and policing in communities of color. Instead of police protecting their communities, they are now being trained as occupying forces in our own cities and towns.
The number of civilians killed by police keeps increasing. In 2020 there were 1,021 fatal police shootings, up from 999 fatal shootings in 2019. According to the USA Census Bureau, only 12.3% of the USA population is black and 12.5% is Hispanic, yet from 2015 to March 2021, the rate of fatal police shootings per million of the population reached 35% African-Americans and 26% Hispanics.
Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people, and a higher percentage of unarmed black people are killed compared to unarmed white victims. Black men aged 15–34 are between 9 and 16 times more likely to be killed by police than other people. Unarmed victims of police shootings are more likely to be minorities, according to FBI statistics. 13 of the largest USA city police departments kill black men at higher rates than the USA illegal murder rate.
My government is asking me to not only support war in other countries, but to also pay to kill my neighbors, particularly people whose skin is darker than mine. In the USA it is illegal to pay for someone else to murder, yet our government is asking me to do just that. Our government saying that war and killing is right does not make it so.
It pains me not to pay all of the federal taxes I owe each year. I want to fulfill my financial responsibilities without denying my conscience and faith. Unfortunately we seem committed to destroying some communities rather than meeting human needs. Given a choice of paying to kill or dealing with financial penalties and the threat of prison, I have to choose your penalties. I won’t pay for war.
This year I will donate at least $355.00 to Christian Peacemaker Teams working to prevent future wars by transforming violence and oppression. I am not benefitting financially from my refusal to pay for war. Every cent I owe is being paid to help save lives, not to destroy lives.
I urge you to make it possible for USA citizens to follow our faith and conscience without breaking the law. I also urge you to think deeply about how we can change our country’s direction in order to live out God’s command to love our neighbors.
In peace, Susan Lee Barton
