A different kind of war protest

This one is something I didn't see coming. Some people, as many as ten thousand, are apparently protesting the Iraq war by refusing to pay the federal tax due on their phone bills, and some phone companies are helping them do it. (Annoying but free registration to the Knoxville News required)

Thousands of people are protesting the war in Iraq by refusing to pay federal phone taxes - and in many cases, phone companies are helping them do it.

So-called tax resisters risk the wrath of the Internal Revenue Service. Yet that hasn't stopped them from withholding payment of the monthly federal excise tax on their phone bills, proceeds from which are used in part to fund U.S. military adventures abroad.

Ruth Benn, who runs the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee in New York, said it's impossible to know for sure how many people are participating in the grass-roots movement.

If you're at all like me, your first reaction might be along the lines of, "Huh? What the heck does my phone bill have to do with the Iraq war?" The article provides a brief history lesson.

The federal excise tax on phone usage dates back to 1898. It was adopted under the War Revenue Act as a temporary levy to help fund the Spanish-American War. The war ended in October of that year. The tax was repealed in 1902 but didn't stay gone for long.

It was reintroduced during World War I and was subsequently used to fund the nation's military activities during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The tax was given permanent status in 1990 and now stands at 3 percent of a consumer's monthly phone bill. It raises about $6 billion a year for general federal expenditures, including military spending.

Some phone companies aren't opposed to helping you in this protest. They think the tax is improper to begin with. However, they will rat you out to Uncle Sam.

As it turns out, most phone companies aren't shedding any tears over missed federal excise tax payments. It's not that they sympathize with protesters' feelings about the war. They just don't like the tax.

"We think it's antiquated and has no place in a modern economy," said Joe Farren, a spokesman for telecom industry group CTIA (formerly the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, but now just an acronym).

"We think this tax is outrageous and shouldn't be assessed," he said.

AT&T will routinely eliminate federal excise taxes from customers' monthly bills if asked to do so in writing.

"We'll go into our system and make an adjustment," Britton said. "But we will have to report you to the government."

For its part, Cingular Wireless sends a letter to tax-resisting customers agreeing that the federal excise tax is "antiquated and discriminatory" and that it "has far outlived its purpose."

As such, Cingular will also adjust customers' monthly bills to write off the federal excise tax on a regular basis. (MCI and Verizon Wireless have similar policies.)

"Please be aware, however," Cingular's letter warns, "that as required by law, Cingular Wireless will report your nonpayment, and provide your name, address, amount of tax written off to the IRS."

Phone companies are legally obligated to try to collect the federal excise tax. But they have no enforcement power. It's the job of the IRS to crack down on tax scofflaws.

There you have it. If you really feel strongly about it and don't fear a war with the IRS, you have a weird new channel to engage in war protest activities. Not sure if I'd do it, though. The IRS is more frightening than the Justice Department, the CIA and Al Qaeda combinded.