Taxes aren’t due until the spring but some Americans are already declaring their intentions to dodge Uncle Sam when tax season rolls around.
Amid the government shutdown, some people on Reddit and TikTok have said they plan to either skip paying their taxes in April or claim exempt status as a form of protest against the federal government.
“Why do we pay taxes during [a] shutdown?” one person wrote on Reddit. “I’m just wondering why we owe federal income tax during periods where the federal government is shut down. Why can’t we divide our taxes owed by 365. For every day the government is shut down, subtract the outcome.”
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Others contend that, at the very least, there should be a discussion about the gap between what Americans pay in federal taxes and what they receive in return.
“I’ve never minded paying taxes. I’ve always supported subsidized health care, safety net programs, infrastructure, and education funding. That being said, it’s incredibly frustrating that I’m not seeing a return on those funds,” said Izzy Hodges, a finance and administration professional who discussed the issue on TikTok.
Hodges told HuffPost she loves her home state of Georgia and her close-knit community, but, with the state’s poor education rankings, deteriorating infrastructure, and lack of public transportation, she’s begun to question, “Why am I paying taxes at all?”
Her last straw was the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1 and was prompted by Congress’ inability to agree to a deal to continue to fund the federal government, as Democrats demanded an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“I realized how many people would lose access to affordable health care through Obamacare, as well as lose benefits from programs like SNAP, as well as how easy it would be for the federal government to withhold those benefits on a whim,” she said.
Is she at all worried about the repercussions of not paying?
“Truthfully, I’m not concerned,” she said. “I’ve always been extremely diligent about filing my taxes. I usually file as soon as I get my W-2s and I opt to have taxes automatically withheld from my paycheck to avoid additional stress later.”
It’s hard to feel obligated to comply, she said, “when our own government isn’t being held accountable for following the law or allocating funds where we were told they would go.”
Not paying up: It’s a continuing trend from last tax season.
Tax dodging is nothing new ― though people chatting about their intentions and ways to pull it off online arguably is.
In March, The Washington Post reported that the IRS had detected a rise in online chatter from would-be tax dodgers and people vowing to aggressively claim credits and deductions they don’t qualify for.
At the time, the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency was in full swing, making deep cuts to programs and jobs, and some Americans wagered that auditors wouldn’t bother scrutinizing their returns.
Officials from the Treasury Department and the IRS told the paper — on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic data — that they expected tax receipts by the April 15, 2025, deadline to fall more than 10% compared with 2024.
Now, judging by the conversations unfolding online amid the shutdown — the second longest in U.S. history — another dip in revenue could be on the horizon this spring.
When HuffPost reached out to the IRS this week, a spokesperson pointed to a statement on the agency’s website: While “IRS operations are limited” due to lapses in appropriations, the “underlying tax law remains in effect, and all taxpayers must continue to meet their tax obligations as normal.”
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to approve a funding bill to reopen the U.S. government in coming days, but some say the damage is already done.
Mel, a tech startup CEO in Rhode Island, said she refuses to pay, calling the way the federal government has been run in the past year “taxation without representation.”
Mel ― who asked to use her first name only to protect her privacy ― told HuffPost she’s particularly bothered by the introduction of new tariffs, a $75 billion budget for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the next four years to crack down on immigration, and DOGE cuts to government services and the federal workforce.
“Why would I work so hard to give the government my money when they turn around and give me nothing?” Mel asked, before noting she’d like to see her taxes go toward things like universal health care, free college or trade school tuition, and paid parental leave.
“I would rather give it all to my state and see the results,” she said. “If people are too afraid to stop paying altogether, I’d say just cut way back: Claim five dependent children. Save the money in a high-yield savings account. Pay at the end of the year if you want to.”
Johvan Calvo, a self-employed author and content creator in Colorado, encouraged his TikTok followers to withhold taxes by changing their tax forms and then making a decision whether to pay once tax season comes around.
“At the very least, if a lot of people did so, it would send a message to the government that we aren’t happy with its current administration and their decisions, including the funding of genocides such as the one happening in Gaza.”
“I want my money to go toward helping the American people, plain and simple,” he told HuffPost.
That said, as a child of immigrants in an era of unprecedented deportation, he’s personally careful about filing because he worries about the repercussions.
Others argue it’s unfair to pay up when so many corporations appear to dodge taxes while their CEOs line their pockets. For instance, Tesla, Netflix and Ford each paid more to their top executives than they did in federal taxes between 2018 and 2022, according to a 2024 report by the Institute for Policy Studies — a left-leaning nonprofit — and Americans for Tax Fairness, a group that advocates for progressive tax reform.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that roughly 6 in 10 U.S. adults ― taxpayers and otherwise ― say they’re deeply bothered that some corporations and wealthy individuals don’t pay their fair share.
Tax accountants warn against dodging payment, though.
Certified public accounts are getting an earful about this, too. Megan Munsell, a CPA and founder of Abundantia Advisory, said she’s had clients tell her they won’t need her services this upcoming year because they refuse to fund the federal government.
“What’s worse is that a lot of folks online are talking about redoing their W-4 and claiming exemption so their employer doesn’t withhold any more income taxes from their checks,” she said.
But switching your tax status to exempt like that could come back to haunt you, she told HuffPost.
“The IRS gets information from your employer on your wages, and will file a substitute return for you, and you’ll be on the hook for taxes anyway ― except you’ll also have penalties and interest,” she said.
In addition, “the IRS will send Form 2800C to your employer, which is called a ‘Lock-in Letter.’ That will prohibit your employer from changing your withholdings, even if you submit a new W-4 to them,” she explained.
It’s also difficult, if not impossible, to pay your state taxes without paying your federal taxes, as some on TikTok have said they plan to do.
“The states and federal government share this information, so if you did manage to file a state tax return, chances are they would share that information with the IRS,” she said. Plus, “many states require you to provide federal schedules when filing your return and a few won’t let you e-file until you have an approved federal e-file confirmation.”
Ahad Ali ― who calls himself “your favorite TikTok CPA” ― has noticed an uptick in tax-dodging content on the app, especially among young people new to paying taxes.
“It’s just a lot of people claiming that the IRS does not have authority to collect taxes, which is a little scary and unfortunate,” he said.
He understands why people are upset about how their taxes are used, but he warns against skipping payment as a protest. Some, he said, look at the government shutdown — with almost half of IRS workers furloughed — and figure they don’t need to file taxes for that reason.
“That’s not true, though,” he said. “If you don’t pay, the IRS can garnish your wages as well and levy your bank accounts. So really, there is no escaping taxes.”