‘War tax resistance’ gains attention — but IRS penalties apply
Chicago attorney Rachel Cohen owes more than $8,000 in federal income taxes but deliberately left that balance unpaid.
“I’m not paying my federal income taxes this year,” Cohen said in a widely watched speech. TikTok video About his decision from March 2.
The 31-year-old community organizer filed a federal tax return showing a balance of $8,830, according to a tax document reviewed by CNBC. But Cohen said he deliberately chose to delay payment on that bill to protest the detention of immigrants, including in ICE facilities, and U.S. attacks on Iran without congressional approval.
Refusing to pay taxes owed, although it is legal to voice resistance to taxes violate federal law And make way serious penalties.
“It’s completely normal to be unhappy and dissatisfied with our government,” said Josh Youngblood, owner of The Youngblood Group, a Dallas-based tax firm. “But not paying taxes or engaging in tax evasion or evasion is not the solution.”
In addition to penalties and interest that begin accruing immediately on their past-due balances, tax protesters may face “long-term” problems. resultsWage garnishment is like a tax lien on property and even jail time, according to Michele Frank, an associate professor of accounting at the University of Miami. federal courts long history record siding with the Internal Revenue Service in cases involving tax resistance, routinely dismissing such claims as frivolous and, in some cases, imposing additional penalties.
Cohen told CNBC that he was fully aware of the potential risks and that speaking publicly about the decision could subject him to additional scrutiny from federal authorities.
Cohen said his protest was directed at federal spending priorities, not taxation itself. Illinois paid about $3,000 in state taxes, according to a tax document reviewed by CNBC, and said it saw value in those dollars supporting state and local services.
Cohen said his decision was personal and not something he encourages others to do, but he hopes it pushes people to think about whether their actions match their beliefs.
Interest in tax resistance has increased again
Cohen’s protest follows a long tradition of so-called war tax resistance, in which people withhold some or all of their federal taxes to oppose government policies.
“This has been going on since we became a country,” Frank said.
Typically, he said, when the U.S. government engages in a war or other “controversial” activities, there is an increase in tax protests (with filers withdrawing some or all of their tax payments).
This appears to be happening again, according to the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, an educational nonprofit founded by activists in the early 1980s. connected to the anti-Vietnam War movement.
The group’s website was averaging 40,000 unique visitors a year until the war in Gaza began in 2023, according to Lincoln Rice, the organization’s coordinator. In January 2026 alone, traffic reached more than 110,000 visitors.
“I don’t think anyone made the decision to implement war tax resistance based on a single action,” Rice told CNBC. Instead, major political events can become the “last straw” that prompts some people to explore this tactic.
Rice said the organization does not encourage people to refuse to pay taxes, but instead provides information about how the app works and its legal risks.
These approaches vary. Rice said some protesters filed their tax returns but refused to pay the balance owed, while others deliberately paid less than they owed. Others choose not to apply at all, which may subject them to harsher penalties.
Ruth Benn, a longtime war tax protester and volunteer adviser to the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, said she took one of the more common approaches: filing tax returns but refusing to pay the federal income taxes she owed. He now owes about $27,000 in federal taxes, including interest and penalties that have accumulated over several years, according to a summary of his IRS account reviewed by CNBC.
Benn said he regularly received IRS letters “with interest and penalties attached” over the years, and that he contacted the agency in 2009 about his tax debt.
He said small government rebates were seized and some government rebates were stopped. “I think around 1990 they took $800 from a bank account,” he said. “Otherwise, I don’t recall any more bank accounts being seized, and no money was ever taken from my paycheck.”
Benn said he began withholding payments after becoming involved in anti-war activism decades ago, and that he sends a letter to the IRS each year explaining why he was withholding payment. He said he was open to the IRS about not paying rather than trying to hide his income.
However, failure to pay federal income taxes is still illegal. Those who fail to pay may still face penalties, interest and collection lawsuits, and in some cases, intentional failure to pay taxes can be considered a crime.
Separately, certain tax positions may trigger more severe penalties. The IRS warned in a 2022 briefing that taxpayers who rely on “frivolous” arguments to avoid taxes (such as claiming that tax returns are voluntary or challenging what counts as income, among others) could face additional civil penalties and, in more serious cases, criminal prosecutions, including felonies linked to tax evasion or false returns. The agency quotes multiple cases where the courts ruled against tax protesters.
Benn said people considering tax resistance should understand that the results can be unexpected, with the IRS sometimes taking years to start collecting.
“It’s unpredictable,” he said. “That’s the hard part about this anti-war protest. You don’t know what’s going to happen when.”
Consequences for tax protesters
While some Americans oppose funding for certain government programs, moral or religious beliefs Do not exempt taxpayers from paying federal income taxes, according to the IRS.
If you do not apply for a refund, Penalty for “not filling out the file”For each month or partial month in which the declaration is delayed, 5% of the taxes due is collected and limited to 25%. The institution also applies interest on fines.
Eventually the IRS issued a “instead of returning“It’s in your name, without the credits and deductions you owe,” said Youngblood, who is also an enrolled agent and has a tax license to work with the IRS.
You can wait after this “90 day letter” along with the agency’s recommended assessment of your balance. start collections. This may include refund offsets, garnishing wages, seizing property, and other activities.
There is also one “Failure to pay” penalty – 0.5% of your balance for each month or partial month the application is late, capped at 25% – but Youngblood said other penalties could be significantly higher.
For example, if you file a return without sufficient information to calculate the correct tax liability, $5,000 fine for what is known under the Internal Revenue Code as a “frivolous tax return.”
Alternatively, some filers have a 75% civil fraud penalty the institution believes that the underpayment was due to fraud rather than negligence.
Moreover “False or fraudulent returns“According to the Internal Revenue Code. In these cases, the IRS can pursue filers indefinitely.
In some cases, failure to pay taxes can result in imprisonment. During fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported original sentences were imposed for some individuals. 360 federal criminal cases involving tax evasionAn 11% increase from fiscal 2020. The 2024 cases involved tax evasion and deliberate errors such as failure to file returns, provide information or pay taxes, among other issues.
