Tax resistance

Tax resistance is the deliberate refusal to pay some or all taxes as political or moral protest. It differs from tax evasion, which conceals liability for private gain.

Tax withholding: The collection of income tax directly from wages or other payments before they reach the recipient. Some resisters try to stop withholding at its source, though employers generally remain legally responsible for collecting it.
Henry David Thoreau: An American writer and philosopher whose essay “Civil Disobedience” argued for refusing support to unjust government. His refusal to pay a poll tax opposed slavery and the Mexican–American War.
Tax evasion: The illegal concealment or misrepresentation of tax liability to avoid paying taxes owed. Tax resistance makes refusal an announced protest; evasion typically hides the conduct or its purpose.
Tax audit: An examination of tax records to verify reported income, deductions, and liabilities. A protest refusal can prompt scrutiny of returns and disputed claims, separate from the unpaid balance.
No taxation without representation: A political principle opposing taxation imposed without representation in the governing body that levies it. Tax resisters invoke this principle when they dispute the legitimacy of a government or its policies.
Tax strike: A coordinated refusal by a group to pay a specified tax or taxes. Collective nonpayment can make a protest more visible and harder to dismiss as an individual dispute.
Gandhi's Salt March: A 1930 campaign in which Mohandas Gandhi led a march to defy British India’s salt tax and monopoly. Breaking the salt law made tax resistance a mass, visible act in the Indian independence movement.
Tax avoidance: The use of legal methods to reduce or defer tax liability. Unlike resistance, avoidance accepts the tax system’s rules while arranging affairs to owe less.
Tax refund interception: The application of a taxpayer’s refund to outstanding debts, including certain tax debts. Authorities may collect arrears by withholding refunds rather than waiting for voluntary payment.
Political obligation: The question of whether and why people have a moral duty to obey political authority. Tax refusal tests whether legal authority alone creates a moral duty to contribute.

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