Should Cascadia join the tax strike?
As the April 15 federal tax deadline approaches, it's worth taking a moment to consider how a tax strike could help Oregon and Washington assert fiscal independence and send a message to Congress that it needs to work harder to halt fascism in the US.
To learn more about this rapidly-growing civil disobedience movement in which people refuse to pay federal income taxes to protest and defund US authoritarianism, I spoke with Christina Thompson, who lives in Maryland and is coordinator of the National Tax Strike.
Thompson said the movement began early in 2025 after volunteers attending a webinar hosted by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC) began discussing whether refusing to pay taxes might also be useful tool for fighting the Trump administration's fascism. A nationwide tax strike grew out of those conversations.
"Our umbrella goal at this stage," Thompson said, "is the goal of getting Congress's attention and a commitment from them to uphold their oath to the constitution, which broadly covers so many of the issues that have popped up in the last year from the Trump administration."
The number of reasons Thompson and others are refusing to pay federal taxes are many: DOGE's unconstitutional destruction of federal agencies, a cruel, $140 billion mass deportation campaign, an illegal war in Iran that costs at least $1 billion per day, and Israel's genocidal war in Gaza.
Thompson isn't opposed to paying taxes, and in fact is happy to pay them when they fund things communities need. "But the things I want my tax dollars to go to are things that this administration has decided are not important, like SNAP benefits, Medicaid benefits, and funding for USAID."
"If we have to pay the fascists, we don't have to make it easy, and we don't have to do it quietly."
She believes both parties in Congress aren't doing enough to stop fascism and the administration's draconian funding cuts. "We can march and protest, and that's great," she said. "But we need civil disobedience across the board in order to gain back our power. Because right now, our members of Congress care more about placating wealthy donors and getting that super PAC cash than they care about earning your vote."
Refusing to pay taxes is a civil disobedience tactic has a long tradition in US history. Thompson notes that the 1773 Boston Tea Party, in which American colonists destroyed British shipments of tea to protest taxation without representation was "a tax resistance action."
The National Tax Strike, Thompson says, also takes inspiration from Henry David Thoreau's refusal to pay poll taxes in opposition to the Mexican American War in the mid 19th century and "not wanting to support the state, which was promoting human enslavement."
Thompson says a growing number of people want to take concrete action that ends support for Trump's regime. "We're seeing people saying today: I can't stomach the thought of my tax dollars being used to build concentration camps, to round up our neighbors, and to eliminate people's constitutional rights."
She cautions that there are legal risks in refusing to pay federal taxes. Thompson notes that the movement also offers a legal alternative, which she calls "slow taxes." It involves filing a paper return, and writing checks (or even multiple checks) to make things more difficult. "If we have to pay the fascists, we don't have to make it easy, and we don't have to do it quietly."
For those willing to accept more legal risks, not paying taxes (or not paying a portion of you taxes) is an option. Her organization urges people to file returns, however, to avoid running afoul of the IRS. Thompson notes that the IRS has recently endured huge cuts in staff and funding, and while there are no guarantees you won't face seizure of assets, enforcement is much less rigorous than it once was.
"They save those actions for folks who are the ultra wealthy who are hiding their assets and that sort of thing," she notes.
What those who resist paying taxes can possibly expect are fines, garnishment of wages, and limits on certain government benefits. "The IRS can make you ineligible to renew your passport, so some of these consequences are pretty severe," she said.
Still, she believes the grave crisis that the Trump administration presents makes tax resistance worth considering. "Every generation has their reckoning moment, where we have to confront the ideals and virtues of our nation," she says.
"The civil rights movement was considered the fight for the soul of the nation. And I think our fight against authoritarianism right now carries a similar weight."
Thompson said she's been following proposed legislation in Oregon and Washington that would withhold money owed to the federal government when the feds claw back funds appropriated to those states.
"We absolutely support the efforts in Washington and Oregon," Thompson says. She hopes similar blue state tax resistance will spread to places like Minnesota "and other places that have really felt the impact of Trump's policies."
At Cascadia Journal, I've written previously about how setting up an escrow account for federal taxes could help Oregon and Washington achieve fiscal independence.
Andrew Engelson
Is tax resistance for me personally? I'm still weighing the risks, but I will happily use a dusty book of checks to break up my payment into time-consuming chunks. And maybe I'll file a Peace Tax Return along with my official return. I'm old enough to remember writing a note on my 1040 expressing my opposition to the Gulf War in Kuwait in 1991.
Thompson says it's essential to way the risks realistically.
"This tactic isn't going to be right for everybody," she says. "But we think it's important that this toolbox of civil resistance actions and tactics needs to be as big and as broad and as diverse as the American populace."
"Because fascism prides itself on its ability to destroy hope and to increase isolation. So wherever we can, find ways to push back. It's our obligation."
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
