Chrissy and Lincoln on War Tax Resistance (CCW Ep 37)
In Episode 37 of Coffee with Catholic Workers, hosts Theo Kayser and Lydia Wong speak with Lincoln Rice of Casa Maria Catholic Worker in Milwaukee & Chrissy Kirchhoefer of St. Louis Catholic Worker.
This discussion covers the history of tax resistance in the Catholic Worker movement as well as the modern revival of tax resistance, examining different approaches to tax resistance and implications of this practice.
For me, my tax resistance grew deep roots because our house of hospitality in Columbia, Missouri, primarily served Vietnam veterans. Seeing the individual, raw, psychological toll of war up close every day served as my ultimate motivation to resist militarism.
It forces you to reclaim your imagination: Where are we investing our resources, our money, and our literal lives? Here in St. Louis, we live right near Boeing, which has manufactured smart bombs for a long time. Every community can look locally, find the literal footprint of the war machine or weapons manufacturing, and choose to divest from it while investing in the building blocks of life.
– Chrissy
Play the episode or read the full transcript below.
Episode transcript
The following episode transcript was autogenerated from the audio transcript and subsequently reviewed and lightly edited for accuracy and clarity. Filler words (ah, um, like, etc.) and false starts have been removed to improve readability.
Introduction
Theo: Welcome to Coffee with Catholic Workers, a podcast made by and for Catholic Workers. I’m Theo.
Lydia: And I’m Lydia. We’ve both been a part of The Catholic Worker for more than a decade, and we’re excited to bring to you conversations with Catholic Workers from around the world.
For today’s episode, we spoke with Lincoln from Milwaukee’s Casa Maria and Chrissy from the St. Louis Catholic Worker about the Catholic Worker’s history of refusing to pay taxes for war, and the recent uptick in interest in war tax resistance.
Theo: NWTRCC which is the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee [Editor’s Note: abbreviation pronounced like ‘new-trick’ throughout this interview] will be having their gathering in November, hosted by the Las Vegas Catholic Worker. You can find out more on their website: nwtrcc.org. Now, here’s Lincoln and Chrissy.
Defining War Tax Resistance
Lydia: Well, it’s fun to have back on the show Lincoln from Casa Maria in Milwaukee, and Chrissy, my very own community member here in St. Louis. We’re here to talk about war tax resistance today. To get us going, can you tell us about your experience with war tax resistance? How did you get involved, and what does that even look like? What is war tax resistance?
Lincoln: Sure, I can jump in and start. This is Lincoln. To be truthful, I don’t remember if I knew about war tax resistance before I came to the Catholic Worker or not. I think I might have, or perhaps Dorothy Day had mentioned it. But when I moved into Casa Maria in Milwaukee going into my senior year of college in 1998, there were multiple people in the community who were war tax resisters.
The organization that Chrissy and I both do work for—the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, or NWTRCC for short—had all their literature on the bookshelves. Many Catholic Workers have those books. They had all these little pamphlets about it, so it gave me everything I needed to get started. A lot of the pamphlets and books were old and potentially slightly out of date, but it gave me my bearings.
I was drawn to the pacifism aspect of the Catholic Worker immediately. What is war tax resistance? Essentially, it’s the realization that about half of our federal income taxes are directed toward current and past military expenses. During the time I joined the worker, the sanctions on Iraq were happening. UNICEF had recently published numbers estimating that hundreds of thousands of children had died because of sanctions preventing medical and water filtration supplies. Madeleine Albright had just given an interview where she was asked if this was justified, and she said she thought the price was worth it.
All of that came together for me in a moment where I said, “This coming tax season in the spring of 1999, I’m going to start refusing to pay my federal income taxes.”
Chrissy: This is Chrissy. I got involved at a similar time. My first exposure to war tax resistance was at the School of the Americas protests at Fort Benning, Georgia. A lot of people were protesting against US militarism in Central America. A lot of tax money had been going toward those militaries in the ’80s and ’90s, and there was a lot of awareness about the implications of US tax money being used upon citizens there.
That was my entryway. NWTRCC had tables set up there alongside Veterans for Peace and Grandmothers for Peace. I was exposed to people who were so infectious with their joy and peace. Not only did I get the information, but seeing people living their lives with lightness while tackling heavy issues was really attractive to me.
I became aware of it then, but also through the Catholic Worker I was involved with in 1998 in Columbia, Missouri. Steve Jacobs had just gotten back from Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness and was on fire about what he had seen regarding the sanctions. At that time, the US had re-engaged in a bombing campaign, so it was front and center. It changed my life; I moved into the Columbia Catholic Worker, quit my job, and stopped paying taxes that same year.
I want to say that it was truly within the context of community that this step was able to be considered. Becoming aware of the history through Lana Jacobs and others shared that deep tradition within the movement.
The Catholic Worker Tradition: Dorothy Day & Ammon Hennacy
Theo: Do you mind saying a little bit about that tradition in the Catholic Worker? You touched on it along the way—Lincoln found the books on the shelves—but war tax resistance has been going on pretty much as long as the movement itself, right?
Lincoln: Yeah, a couple of weeks ago I was invited to speak at the Madison Catholic Worker about war tax resistance. I started off by quizzing the people there, asking who the two most famous war tax resisters in the Catholic Worker movement were. It only took two tries: Dorothy Day and Ammon Hennacy.
For both of them, it went hand-in-hand with their pacifism. For Dorothy, I don’t know if she ever really owed that much. After the Worker started, most of her income came from book royalties, and I don’t think she made that much money, though she always made a point of saying she refused to pay taxes. In her writings, she mentions her daughter and grandkids trying to live out life on the land under very difficult, destitute conditions. I get the sense that if there was money she resisted, it went straight to supporting the farm.
Ammon Hennacy was one of the few people who went to jail for refusing the draft in both World War I and World War II. A major touchstone is that during World War II, the federal income tax expanded to include the majority of Americans. Before WWII, it was strictly a tax on the rich—you had to make a lot of money to owe federal income tax. The tax really expanded specifically to fund war spending.
Because Ammon Hennacy was so open about sharing his story, we know he had been working as a social worker. When the income tax expanded, he quit his job and started doing farm labor because farm workers at that time didn’t have automatic federal withholding taken out of their wages. He went into farm work—which is very difficult labor—not as a young person, but mid-life and older, to show his absolute commitment to not paying federal income taxes.
Modern Uptick & Influences (Gaza & Domestic Shifts)
Lydia: For many people, not paying taxes isn’t even on their radar. I’ve noticed in activist circles and protest groups that this idea is starting to gain momentum again. What are some of the things pushing people now toward not paying income tax? Why are we seeing this resurgence, and what steps should people think about if they want to explore this?
Chrissy: I think it has really come into people’s awareness in the last two-plus years with the situation in Gaza, seeing a direct connection between US taxpayer money and weapons going to Israel every year. It’s unavoidable now. People realize these weapons are being funded by us, while domestic resources are neglected.
Furthermore, the Pentagon gets so many resources that there are military hand-me-downs ending up on our own city streets. People are seeing increased militarization within our own communities when standing up for basic rights.
There also feels like there is less to lose. Many people within the current economic system don’t have the guarantees or economic security that older generations had in terms of retirement. So there’s a willingness to experiment and take risks, especially as they see others doing it.
Lincoln: Completely agree. The invasion of Gaza with mostly US-funded weapons was a watershed moment for a lot of folks, especially younger activists. In those first six months, I had phone conversations with people saying, “I found you because I just Googled ‘how do I stop paying for the war in Gaza’ and your website came up.” At first, there was some trepidation from younger folks who weren’t traditional activists, wondering if they could trust us.
But now, we’ve seen an absolute growth wave on places like Instagram. Before, we had maybe 600 followers; now we’re nearing 40,000. As Trump entered his second term, alongside the creation of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), ICE crackdowns, the cutting of social programs, and the conflict in Iran, every new event becomes the last straw for somebody. Now, people are finding us because a friend shared a post, which adds a layer of legitimacy and lessens the fear.
Practical Steps: The W-4 Strategy & Simple Living
Chrissy: To answer the question about steps: NWTRCC offers introduction to war tax resistance sessions online about once a month. We also host online office hours, have video guides on YouTube, and offer a comprehensive guidebook.
One practical step we encourage people to explore is adjusting their W-4 form for their earnings if they are traditionally employed. We also encourage finding a community of support.
Another way people engage is through the simple living aspect. One of our most downloaded pamphlets is about simple living. It goes hand-in-hand with the Catholic Worker movement—simplifying your life so you don’t owe taxes. We’ve seen a renewed interest in Henry David Thoreau recently due to a PBS documentary, highlighting that historical connection.
Lydia: Without going too nuts-and-bolts, for people who have no clue, what does it actually mean to “adjust your W-4”? Most people assume you just get a job, they take the taxes out, and maybe you get a refund at the end of the year.
Lincoln: That’s one of the most common phone calls I get. In the United States, employees use a W-4 form to dictate withholding. We are unique here; if you get a job in Canada or England, the federal standard is set, and you can’t just tell your employer not to withhold taxes.
When you get hired, you fill out this form. On line 4b (“Deductions”), you can input your anticipated deductions. Legally, you are supposed to put down deductions you expect to claim at the end of the year to lower your taxable income. However, if you enter a high enough number there, you are essentially telling the HR computer system: “I expect so many deductions that my taxable income will be zero, so do not withhold anything.”
This empowers people because when the next tax season rolls around, they actually hold the money and owe the federal government directly, allowing them to make the conscious choice of whether or not to pay it.
Lydia: And when you talk about simple living to avoid taxes, you mean living under an income threshold that triggers federal tax liability entirely?
Lincoln: Exactly. For the 2026 tax year, the standard deduction for a single filer is $16,100, and for married couples filing jointly, it’s $32,200. In the Catholic Worker movement, people often conflate the standard deduction with the poverty line. But the reality is that the federal poverty line is actually higher than the standard deduction—meaning you can officially be considered “poor” by the government and still owe federal income taxes. Staying completely under the taxable limit requires a more extreme form of simple living.
Confronting the Fear: IRS Consequences & Realities
Theo: Are you all afraid that the IRS is going to show up at your door and take your house because you didn’t pay your income taxes?
Chrissy: The quick answer is probably no. But that fear of the IRS is very real and larger-than-life in our culture. A lot of our outreach involves helping alleviate that fear by sharing recent history. The reality is that the IRS seizing houses or aggressively garnishing wages for this is not common practice right now. However, we ensure people are fully aware that laws change and there are always risks.
Lincoln: Things like wage garnishments or bank levies do happen from time to time, but IRS resources are incredibly drained. Even before Trump’s second term, they were underfunded, and then Trump cut 30% of the IRS workforce. They are so far behind just trying to run the system, process returns, and do standard audits that collection actions hit a tiny minority.
The IRS used to be more aggressive in the ’80s with seizing cars or homes, but their philosophy shifted away from that. We haven’t known anyone who had a home or car taken since the mid-1990s.
There was a long-term resister, a retired medical doctor in Madison, Wisconsin, who had a car taken back in the ’80s. A few years ago, before she retired, the IRS contacted her asking to meet at her home. Most people would be terrified, but she has a very Gandhian approach to nonviolence, so she invited them right in. During the chat, she noted that she was a traveling clinic doctor serving rural areas, meaning her car was vital to her medical employment. She asked if they planned to seize her car again like they did in the ’80s. The agents looked at each other and said, “But if we took your car, how would you get to work?” She pointed out that the IRS wasn’t worried about that in the ’80s! It just shows how much the culture inside the agency changes across decades.
Community Mutual Aid: The Penalty Fund
Lydia: Tell us a bit more about NWTRCC as an organization. What other resources do you offer, and what does the wider community look like?
Lincoln: I first encountered NWTRCC by happy accident in November 1999 when the Milwaukee Catholic Worker hosted one of their bi-annual national gatherings (which happen every May and November). When I met them, I realized: “Oh, these are normal people.”
Even though the two paid staff members for NWTRCC right now happen to be Catholic Workers, the vast majority of participants nationwide are not. They are everyday people with standard jobs, mortgages, and families who are taking a real financial risk.
All of our resources are completely free on our website. It’s a huge site, so we recommend people start by watching the single introductory video on the homepage to figure out what questions they even need to ask. We outline the laws, what rules you might be breaking, and the actual statistical likelihood of enforcement. We compare it to jaywalking—it’s technically illegal everywhere, but enforcement depends entirely on where you are and who you are. Because tax code is complex, it allows for high adaptability; there isn’t a one-size-fits-all method.
Chrissy: NWTRCC acts as a vital information clearinghouse and community hub to combat the isolation and fear that the IRS can cause.
Lincoln: We also feature a network of local contact groups on our site. NWTRCC operates non-hierarchically by consensus, much like the Catholic Worker movement.
One of the independent groups we host on our site is the War Tax Resistance Penalty Fund. They are a brilliant mutual aid group. When a resister gets a bank account or wage collection action taken against them by the IRS, the fund puts out an appeal. They don’t pass the hat to pay the original tax principle, but they do collect money to reimburse the resister for the steep accumulated interest and penalties. Usually, if everyone in the network pitches in $25 to $30, they can completely wipe out someone’s penalties. This past year, someone had an old $8,000 penalty from a collection action 20 years ago fully reimbursed by the community passing the hat.
The Continuum of Resistance & High Earners
Lydia: Chrissy mentioned earlier that this doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing. For people who fear collections or can’t live below the taxable limit, what are alternative ways to strategize or enter this work?
Chrissy: People’s life circumstances shift, so some choose to start very small—withholding just $10 in their first year as a symbolic protest. Others calculate the exact percentage of the federal budget that goes directly to the Pentagon (roughly 50%) and choose to withhold only that specific portion.
Lincoln: Right. I’ve had people call and say, “I calculated the exact percentage of the budget that goes to funding ICE, and that’s the precise amount I’m resisting.” Whether you resist $1 or $1,000, you will get the exact same automated, scary-looking letters from the IRS computer. I talked to a couple yesterday who owed $15,000 and were incredibly nervous; after talking through the realities, they decided to start by resisting just $500 this year because they knew at that minor level, nothing beyond automated letters would occur.
Interestingly, while the Gaza invasion brought a wave of young people in their 20s and 30s, the emergence of Trump’s DOGE program cutting social services while expanding military actions caused an influx of older, much higher-income earners. I’ve spoken to people who owed $60,000 in a single year.
For high earners, there is a specific threshold to know: in 2025, if you owe over $64,000, the IRS classifies it as a “seriously delinquent tax debt,” which triggers the revocation or denial of your US passport. Because high earners want to retain international travel, their version of a “token resistance” looks like withholding $3,000 a year instead of their full liability. Because there is a strict 10-year statute of limitations on IRS collections—meaning after 10 years, uncollected tax debt, interest, and penalties legally disappear—a person resisting $3,000 a year will never actually hit that $64,000 passport-denial ceiling.
Chrissy: It’s an exciting, unique moment. Seeing lawyers publicly resisting and high-wage earners embracing this alongside traditional peace activists is creating a cascading effect.
Local Organizing, Civil Disobedience & Conclusion
Theo: Is there anything else we should know about the intersection of the Catholic Worker and tax resistance?
Lincoln: When I joined Casa Maria in 1998, I assumed all Catholic Workers did this, but it turns out communities vary wildly based on their location. At Casa Maria, our biggest, most anticipated protest of the year wasn’t a military base—it was Tax Day. We would protest outside the local IRS office for an hour, and then a few of us would go inside to “share the news” with the agents, which routinely resulted in our arrest by Milwaukee Police.
Most of my lifetime arrests came from Tax Day actions. It taught me how the municipal court system functions and how much your outcome depends on the individual judge. One year a judge would say, “Case dismissed, you were just singing and holding signs, that isn’t disorderly conduct.” The very next year, a different judge would say, “You were singing inside a building? Definitely disorderly conduct, 3 days in jail.”
Chrissy: I love that point about local rootedness. For me, my tax resistance grew deep roots because our house of hospitality in Columbia, Missouri, primarily served Vietnam veterans. Seeing the individual, raw, psychological toll of war up close every day served as my ultimate motivation to resist militarism.
It forces you to reclaim your imagination: Where are we investing our resources, our money, and our literal lives? Here in St. Louis, we live right near Boeing, which has manufactured smart bombs for a long time. Every community can look locally, find the literal footprint of the war machine or weapons manufacturing, and choose to divest from it while investing in the building blocks of life.
Lydia: Thank you both so much for coming on and sharing. It’s beautiful to see people realizing that we can collectively push back against the war machine; it doesn’t just have to be the unquestioned default of American culture.
Post-Interview Reflections
Theo: Thanks to Lincoln and Chrissy. I personally had never even heard of war tax resistance until I stumbled into the Catholic Worker movement.
Lydia: Me neither. For most everyday people, the concept of “not paying taxes” carries a heavily conservative, anti-government connotation—people assume you’re just a right-winger who doesn’t want to fund social programs or help neighbors. But when you sit down and look at the math, you realize how microscopic the percentage of your tax dollar is that actually goes to human welfare versus lining the pockets of corporate weapons contractors. We just heard from the White House that they want to tack on an additional $700 billion to the Pentagon budget, which is wild.
Theo: Exactly. There’s a funny political tension where progressives defend taxes as a mechanism for the common good, while conservatives reject them. But right now, billions are being funneled directly into the highly unpopular assault on Iran, alongside billions funding Israel’s military actions. Our friends who just returned from peace delegations to Palestine saw firsthand how our exact tax dollars are funding localized devastation.
Lydia: These issues feel completely insurmountable sometimes. What I love about Catholic Workers is the refusal to become complacent. Whether it’s resisting war taxes, joining peace delegations, participating in boycotts, or hosting acts of hospitality, it’s a moral ethic. Everyone can actively do something to stop being quietly complicit.
Theo: It was also funny hearing Lincoln talk about how Tax Day used to be the main event. It makes sense historically—back when everyone had to physically line up at the post office to mail a paper tax return, it was a massive public gathering space to distribute literature and hand out anti-war flyers. Now that everything is digitized into the ether, it feels one degree further removed. I only know one person who still physically mails a paper return.
Lydia: True, but the communal living aspect of the Worker makes taking these risks a lot easier. When you are sharing rent, splitting the cost of food, and living in a network of mutual aid, it’s structurally easier to live below the taxable income line or handle a collection notice if it comes.
Theo: It’s ironic that Catholic Workers are viewed as these extreme radicals, yet Lincoln pointed out that everyday people with standard jobs, mortgages, and families are actually risking far more financially to participate in NWTRCC’s resistance. Chrissy mentioned they were featured in a recent article in The Guardian, and someone sent them hate mail threatening to “report them to the IRS.” They just laughed—they’ve been teaching public workshops and writing books about this for decades; the cat is well out of the bag!
Lydia: If you want to check out their upcoming gathering this November in Las Vegas, or dive into their massive archive of free toolkits, head over to nwtrcc.org.
Theo: That wraps up another episode of Coffee with Catholic Workers. Massive thanks to our audio engineer Chris, David Hayes for our music, and Becky McIntyre for our graphics. Thank you for joining us for some clarification of thought. We hope you’re encouraged to go out and help build a world where it’s easier to be good.
Relevant Links:
Coffee with Catholic Workers is a podcast by and about Catholic Workers. Every two weeks, join Lydia Wong and Theo Kayser for a conversation with some of their favorite Catholic Worker folk. Special thanks to sound engineer Chris of Bloomington, IN.
