20 March 2024; MEMO: Activists in the UK have launched the “No Tax for Genocide” campaign, calling on supporters to stop paying taxes to protest and change the British government’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza.
The campaign’s founders argue that paying taxes while the government supports Israel is tantamount to “aiding and abetting genocide,” which they claim is “illegal” under international and domestic laws.
Activists defend the legality of “tax resistance” based on the UN Charter, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the UK’s 2000 Terrorism Act, stating that holding back tax payments is a legal measure due to the government’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
The campaign’s primary goal is to convince taxpayers to commit to refuse to pay income and council taxes. Activists estimate that this could deprive the Treasury of around £700 million ($888 million) within a year. Activists aim to persuade some three million taxpayers, or about ten per cent of all British taxpayers, to pressure the government to change course on Gaza.
Once the number of signatories committing to join the campaign reaches 100,000, taxpayers will be asked to inform HM Customs and Revenue Department (HMRC) of their plans to withold payment of their taxes on the same day. They will then commence to pay their taxes into a trust instead of the tax office.
In case the government can prove in court within one year that it is not “an accomplice in war crimes,” the taxes will be reimbursed to the HMRC.
Ashish Prashar, co-founder of the campaign, said: “It has been six months since Israel’s aggression in Gaza. We have all watched massacre after massacre,” adding: “We all can see with our open eyes what is taking place: mass bodies of children being blown to bits, families being torn apart, whole families being wiped out.”
People everywhere have been calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza through weekly demonstrations and questioning what more they can do to halt the massacre, he added.
“The genesis of this campaign is giving the public tools to take power into their own hands and actually show politicians who they actually work for. They cannot gaslight us, they cannot ignore us anymore, and they cannot simply carry on these genocidal acts without any accountability.”
“You cannot carry on doing this in our name with our money.”
‘Tax resistance is in UK’s DNA’
Prashar highlighted that “tax resistance” is in “the UK’s DNA,” recalling that in the 1980s, then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s attempts to impose taxes prompted mass riots and millions of people refusing to pay taxes.
He also mentioned a recent incident where three million people in the UK refused to pay energy bills due to price hikes, noting that they launched this campaign inspired by such resistance movements.
Following a request for comment, the HMRC referred the Anadolu reporter to the government’s website for advice on what could happen if taxes were not paid.
