SM resident might pay up if Bush is removed
By LAUREN BONIFACIO Special to the Daily Press
Some people light candles, and some people carry signs. Some might even write their congressman. But one Santa Monica resident is showing his disgust with the Bush administration in a different way: He’s not paying his taxes.
As the income tax deadline approaches, Chris Toussaint has it easy. Unlike the rest of Americans, the 50-year-old producer and director isn’t rushing to put together his yearly donation to the Internal Revenue Service because his 1040 will not be including a check.
Higher-ups in Washington, Toussaint said, “don’t get the message through the vote... letters or protests. It’s time for patriotic Americans to withhold the money until they get the message.”
Estimating that he will owe the IRS about $1,000 this year, Toussaint said he is not willing to fund a country with international and domestic policies with which he does not agree.
“I’m just totally opposed to the course that this president has taken this country,” said Toussaint, who has recently joined several political groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union.
Not paying the income tax, however, would merit certain penalties. The IRS, a division of the Department of Treasury, is a government body that collects more than $2 trillion in revenue a year.
“If someone does not pay, they face the full weight of the civil collections process, regardless of the reason they’re not paying,” said Victor Omelczenko, an IRS spokesman for the Los Angeles area. “There’s no law that allows a person to refuse to pay their taxes based on moral or ethical causes.”
By filing tax forms but not including a check, Toussaint’s forms would be considered a “frivolous return” and be subject to penalties, Omelczenko said.
But Toussaint said his conscience, as well as his research into historical Americans such as Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Jefferson, directed him toward this form of protest. “The founding fathers of this country rebelled against King George, and they were taking a big risk.
“I certainly don’t look forward to any hassles the IRS may give me, but at the same time I want it to be known that I’m doing this because of my convictions and my principles,” Toussaint said.
Nor is Toussaint shying away from making his planned non-payment status known. He has informed state senators and congressmembers of his plan and said he hopes to encourage others to join with him.
“Coming out (about not paying) is a political and a moral statement,” Toussaint said. “It’s a nonviolent way of protesting.”
The small business owner is relatively new to Santa Monica — he moved just a year and a half ago from the San Fernando Valley — but his progressive politics seem to fit right in.
Still, Toussaint was not always an IRS target.
He had always paid his taxes. Working at the Democratic National Convention in 2000, though, was a turning point. Toussaint helped create a short film detailing the different political protests going on at the time, and soon politics became a constant theme in both his work and his life, he said.
Toussaint has recently worked on projects, such as one on the homeless crisis in LA, that have shown him that many local problems start with problems in Washington, Toussaint said.
Add to that the current administration’s support for the war in Iraq, which was “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” and Toussaint said he could no longer condone the government’s actions.
“I can’t partake of that anymore,” he said.
Because of high expenses and lower profits from his business, Toussaint received tax refunds from the IRS the last two years — which he conscientiously cashed, he said. But profitable projects this year have earned him a tax liability.
It will take a drastic reversal of policy or a change in the presidential administration for Toussaint to start paying again by April 15 next year, he said.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry might not have been Toussaint’s first choice, Toussaint said, but having the Massachusetts senator take Bush’s place might just encourage him to pay the IRS.
“I can’t imagine that he could be worse,” Toussaint said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 12, 2004. Read the original PDF.