Protesters of recent Trump Administration policies have organized rallies for April 15th called “Say Hey, We Won’t Pay!” The protest is an amalgamation of groups opposing Trump policies on trade, tariffs, fiscal policies, government dismantling, health, defense, budget, abortion, climate, energy, education, and pretty much everything else.
Citing traditional protests back to Boston Harbor in 1773, organizers heralded American history as a call to action. George Polly, spokesperson for Retake America, said, “Trump won’t listen to shouts; and letters? He doesn’t even read. But money is a language he understands. Let’s hit him where he’ll feel it!”
Asked how this was going to work, Jonathan Nichelbacher of Resurgence explained, “We withhold our tax dollars. This Administration is not listening to the American people. No taxation without fair representation! So we file extensions en mass and on paper. With the cuts Republicans have made to the IRS over the years and with Musk’s evisceration of what’s left, they’ll be swamped and shorted. ”
Asked whether the protest would have any impact against the huge budget and existing deficits, he replied, “It took a few weeks for Trump to go totally off the rails, so we’re starting late in the tax season. But numbers of people can add up to large amounts of dollars. It’ll have nowhere near the trillion dollar effect of this Administration’s recent actions; but it will be noticeable, at least as a sign of disapproval.”
Jill Fortuna, spokesperson for Women’s Accountancy, elaborated. “Depending upon the Administration’s response, we’ll encourage tax withholders to pay their share by the October extension deadline. We do want our government to work, fairly and equitably, with purpose and compassion.”
Responding to a reporter’s question about the estimated payments that must be made on April 15th for any extension, Will Slater of United Investors said, “Well, you know how inaccurate estimates can be. I estimated my retirement accounts would be at a certain level by now, and that is way off! Besides, there are any number of arguments to be made that undue hardships are resulting from this clown show of a presidency. We have attorneys preparing responses to likely IRS objections. We’re also preparing defensive filings that withholding our payments en mass is a form of free protest under the First Amendment.”
Addressing the question of average citizens accepting the risk of bucking the IRS, Ms. Fortuna said,
“For those who are still anxious about that, they can estimate their tax and pay $1,000 less. There’s no penalty for amounts that are less than $1,000 short; and when you get millions of people paying less, that number gets big.”
Mr. Polly concluded, “If we do this in unison, we can have a real impact. We can stand together in the defense of our country and our right to protest.” With a grin, he added, “Tell everybody about the Filing Extension Form 1127, or file for free at IRS.gov … if you can get through.”
