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Tax exempt Voices in the Wilderness promoting tax resistance and civil disobedience in contravention of IRS
regulations (Rev Rule 75-384)
Contents:
(1) Relevant portions
of Rev Rule 75-384
(2) Web sites that
advocate tax resistance
(3) Sites that
advocate or plan civil disobedience in contravention of Rev Rule 75-384
(1) Relevant
portions of Rev Rule 75-384
J. ACTIVITIES THAT
ARE ILLEGAL OR CONTRARY TO PUBLIC POLICY 1985 EO CPE Text
Substantiality Test
Violation of
constitutionally valid laws is inconsistent with exemption under IRC 501(c)(3).
As a matter of trust law, one of the main sources of the general law
of
charity, planned activities that violate
laws are not in furtherance of a charitable purpose." A trust cannot
be created for a purpose which is illegal. The
purpose is illegal ...if the trust tends to induce the commission of crime or
if the accomplishment of the purpose is otherwise against public policy....
Planning Illegal
Acts
Not only is the actual
conduct of illegal activities inconsistent with exemption, but the planning and
sponsoring of such activities are also incompatible with charity and social
welfare. Rev.Rul.75-384 holds that an
organization formed to promote world peace that planned and sponsored protest
demonstrations at which members were urged to commit acts of civil disobedience
did not qualify for IRC 501(c)(3) or (4) exemption. G.C.M.36153, dated
January 31,1975, states that because planning and sponsoring illegal acts are
in themselves inconsistent with charity and social welfare it is not necessary
to determine whether illegal acts were, in fact, committed in connection with
the resulting demonstrations or whether such a determination can be made prior
to conviction of an accused. However, it is necessary to establish that the
planning and sponsorship are attributable to the organization, if exemption is
to be denied or revoked on this ground.
(2) Web sites that
advocate tax resistance (vitw.org = Voices in the Wilderness)
o
http://vitw.org/war_tax/ (excerpt enclosed)
§
"Tax
resistance is the most direct way US citizens can avoid being complicit in this
war. If all of us who have written our Congresspersons or taken to the streets
also refuse to financially back the war, the decision-makers in Washington have
a much harder time ignoring our resistance. We ask you to consider war tax
resistance this tax year, and in the years to come. The best way to stop the
war machine is to refuse to fund it."
o
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1675
§
"A
more recent affiliate is the Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness. Founded in
1996 to end economic and military sanctions against the Iraqi people, the
organization has since expanded its objectives and urges serious peace
advocates to engage in tax resistance." "The one thing that the US
government wants from most average, ordinary people in regards to this war is
our money," says Kathy Kelly, one of the founders of Voices in the
Wilderness. "From most of us, they don’t want our lives – we certainly
think of those who are being enlisted – but the reality of what the government
wants is people to pay for this war and not to ask a lot of questions about it."
"
(3) Sites that advocate or plan civil disobedience
o
http://vitw.org/archives/317
§
January
15 (1996) - VitW notifies Attorney General Janet Reno of their
intention to deliberately violate the US/UN sanctions against the
people of Iraq by
soliciting and transporting medical supplies to Iraq.
o
http://vitw.org/archives/992 (excerpt enclosed)
§
September
26, 2005 | category: Recent Updates • Nonviolent
Direct Action Many friends of Voices in the Wilderness joined with War
Resisters League members and were arrested today for acts of civil disobedience
in front of the Pentagon.
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