April 8, 2006
Internal Revenue Service
Andover, MA 05501
To Whom It May Concern:
Though my return shows I owe a balance to the IRS, I cannot
in conscience pay any more money than has already been withheld from my paycheck
knowing it will go to finance war.
The Federal Government, after passing massive tax cuts and
widening the tax loopholes for corporations, ignoring overwhelming worldwide
opposition and facing a growing majority of opposition in the US, continues to
spend several hundred billion dollars of taxpayer money to inflame and
participate in the slaughter of Iraqi people - occupying a country that was in
no way threatening the US. At the same time, the Federal budget deficit climbs
while social spending for education and health care is being slashed across the
country.
The money spent on this war, as with all wars, brings us
thousands of deaths, chaos and misery in the country we attack, the hatred of
people across the globe, and the continuing prospect of spending many hundreds
of billions of dollars in the coming years. The President has said in the face
of overwhelming public and military opposition to the war in Iraq that the
decisions to end the war "will not be politicized," meaning he will not permit
the people of the US to have any say in the matter.
Many people have differences with spending decisions of the
Federal Government yet continue to pay their entire taxes, and I know that many
of my tax dollars that are withheld go to necessary programs. On the other hand,
I also know that US law has recognized the right of conscientious objection to
war since 1940. The thought of paying someone else to kill for for me is as
abhorrent as the idea of doing it myself.
Instead of sending in the balance of the taxes I owe and
thereby paying for the machinery, training and implementation of war, for death
and destruction and the enmity of the world, I am placing that money in an
escrow account with New England War Tax Resisters. This organization uses any
income generated from the fund to provide low-interest loans and grants to
groups working for peace and justice. In addition, I will send an equivalent
amount to groups providing needed social services in the Boston area.
Until a Federal Peace Tax Fund is established, allowing
citizens to pay taxes that will be used for only peaceful government functions,
I will struggle with this decision each year.
I believe it is the right of citizens of conscience to pay
their taxes without having to support the systematic practice of killing in
their name.
Sincerely,
Andrew Curtis
7 Park Ln.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130