These are two fascinating interviews with Chris Coverdale by UK Column about how to withhold tax lawfully so as not to be complicit with the Terrorism Act and complicit in war crimes and acts of genocide etc. 2024 interview and 2025 interview.
Article copyright: No Tax for War
We are all responsible for our own taxes — and this applies even if you’re employed and taxed at source via PAYE and National Insurance.
As an employee or worker, you still have the legal right to object to the unlawful use of your taxes. This route involves making a case to your employer and requesting they respect your position. You are not asking them to break the law. You are asking them to honour your right not to be complicit in war crimes.
Step 1: Submit your formal objection to your employer
Explain that you are withholding consent for PAYE and NI deductions on ethical and legal grounds under UK and international law.
Step 2: Propose alternatives
Urge your employer to set up an organisation-wide, corporate Taxation Trust to ring-fence everyone’s PAYE and NI contributions. If that’s not an option, urge them to place your contributions into a holding or escrow account, or offer to pay the equivalent into your own Taxation Trust. If your employer is happy to take the corporate Taxation Trust or escrow route, thank them and work with them to make it happen!
Step 3: Set up your Taxation Trust
If your employer agrees to you ring-fencing your PAYE and NI yourself, set up your employee Taxation Trust and ask your employer to divert your contributions into a standalone bank account.
Step 4: Let HMRC know
If your employer is happy to support you, they will need to forward your Taxation Trust deed to HMRC explaining why the amount they are transferring has been reduced. It will be your employer — not you — who will field HMRC’s responses. Should your employer decline to support you and continues paying your PAYE and NI, there is little you can do other than gather evidence so that you can take things further when this campaign is won.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – Self-Assessment income tax
If you pay income tax and submit a self-assessment return for any reason, you can use a Taxation Trust
to lawfully withhold your tax. Through your trust, you set aside your taxes until the government proves your money will only be used in line with international and UK law.
Use this lawful approach if you are self-employed and/or receive taxable income from property, investments, pensions, an inheritance, or other sources covered by HMRC’s self-assessment process.
Step 1: Set up your Taxation Trust
Select the deed of trust version for your UK location, and then just follow the instructions. Fill in the gaps, print out your trust deed, get your signature witnessed, and put the document in a safe place. Do not send the original to HMRC or anyone else! Send copies of the witnessed document instead.
Step 2: Open your standalone bank account
You must keep your withheld tax separate from everyday income and expenditure — this is important. Opening a new bank account is the simplest solution.
Step 3: Let HMRC know what you’re doing
Use the template letter to tell HMRC what you’re doing — and why. Follow the instructions and — with a copy of your witnessed deed of trust — send to everyone on the template list. Use Royal Mail’s signed-for service so you have a record of delivery.
Step 4: Keep a paper trail!
Make sure you have a record of everything you send to HMRC and all their replies — digital and on paper.
Step 5: Year-end action
At your trust’s termination date — usually 5 April, the end of the tax year — inform HMRC that you are not paying your tax as you’ve not had verifiable evidence that government funding for genocide and war crimes has ceased. Unless, of course, you have! In which case, send your ring-fenced funds to HMRC immediately and celebrate!
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Trust, which which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – student loans
Student loan repayments go straight into the government’s Consolidated Fundand a percentage is then used to finance arms manufacturers, illegal wars, and crimes against humanity. The process for withholding your student loan repayments is the same as for any other type of personal tax.
Step 1: Set up your Loan Repayment Trust
Select the deed of trust version for your UK location, and then follow the instructions. Fill in your details, print out your trust deed, get your signature witnessed, and put the document in a safe place. Do not send the original to HMRC or anyone else! Send a copy of the witnessed document instead.
Step 2: Open your standalone bank account
You must keep your withheld loan repayments entirely separate from everyday income and expenditure. Opening a new bank account is the simplest solution, but you could also use a cash box as long as you can demonstrate the funds are ring-fenced.
Step 3: Let HMRC know what you’re doing
Use the template letter to tell HMRC what you’re doing — and why. Follow the instructions and — with a copy of your witnessed deed of trust — send to everyone on the list. Use Royal Mail’s signed-for service so you have a record of delivery. Also let the Student Loan Company know what you are doing.
Step 4: Take action at year-end
At your trust’s termination date — usually 5 April, the end of the tax year — inform HMRC and the Student Loan Company that you are not making any loan repayments as you’ve not had verifiable evidence that government funding for genocide and war crimes has ceased. Under the terms of your trust, the withheld money reverts to the second beneficiary, which is usually you.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – other taxes
You can use a Taxation Trust to withhold other types of personal tax. These include:
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Capital Gains Tax
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Stamp Duty
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Inheritance Tax
The process is the same as for withholding self-assessment tax.
Step 1: Set up your Taxation Trust
Select the deed of trust version for your UK location, and then just follow the instructions. Fill in the gaps, print out your trust deed, get your signature witnessed, and put the document in a safe place. Do not send the original to HMRC or anyone else! Send a copy of the witnessed document instead.
Step 2: Open your standalone bank account
You must keep your withheld tax separate from everyday income and expenditure. Opening a new bank account is the simplest solution.
Step 3: Let HMRC know what you’re doing
Use the template letter to tell HMRC what you’re doing — and why. Follow the instructions and — with a copy of your witnessed deed of trust — send to everyone on the list. Use Royal Mail’s signed-for service so you have a record of delivery.
Step 4: Keep a paper trail!
Make sure you have a record of everything you send to HMRC and all their replies.
Step 5: Year-end action
At your trust’s termination date — usually 5 April, the end of the tax year — inform HMRC that you are not paying your tax as you’ve not had verifiable evidence that government funding for genocide and war crimes has ceased. Unless, of course, you have! In which case, send your ring-fenced funds to HMRC immediately and celebrate!
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Trust, which which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – Corporation Tax
As a business owner, you are responsible for ensuring your company’s taxes are only used lawfully. And — like individual taxpayers — you can take peaceful, lawful, action to make sure your Corporation Tax is not used to fund war, genocide, or crimes against humanity.
Step 1: Set up your Corporate Taxation Trust
Use the corporate Taxation Trustdeed version for your UK location to hold funds covering all your tax-related business outgoings. These will likely include PAYE, NI, VAT, and business rates, as well as Corporation Tax. Fill in the form details, print, and sign the deed in front of witnesses, and then store the original securely. Never send an original deed to HMRC, or to anyone else. Send a copy. There’s more about setting up a Corporate Taxation Trust here.
Step 2: Open a dedicated corporate bank account
Set aside your Corporation Tax funds — and other business tax outgoings if appropriate — in a separate account to keep them ring-fenced from operational income and outgoings.
Step 3: Notify HMRC
Use the template letter to let HMRC know you are lawfully withholding Corporation Tax in trust — and explain why. There’s a list of recipients included with the template.
Step 4: Keep records
Maintain a full paper trail of your exchanges with HMRC. Keep digital and printed copies of all correspondence, dates, receipts, and tracking numbers.
Step 5: End of tax year
At your year end — 5 April or your own tax year end — notify HMRC that you are not paying your tax as you’ve not had verifiable evidence that government funding for genocide and war crimes has ceased. Unless, of course, the UK government has provided cast-iron proof that your Corporation Tax is being used lawfully. In the absence of that proof, transfer the funds out of the ring-fenced business account, and create a new Corporate Taxation Trust for the forthcoming tax year.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Corporate Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – NI
If you employ staff you’re legally required to account to HMRC for both employer National Insurance contributions and employee NI and PAYE. Here’s how to lawfully use a corporate Taxation Trustif you’re running a limited liability business to ensure these contributions and deductions are not employed to support illegal wars.
Step 1: Understand your legal duties
While you are required to transfer PAYE and both employer and employees NI to HMRC, you also have the duty to obey the law and object to the unlawful use of those taxes. By withholding tax, you are not breaking the law; you are upholding it.
You do though have a dilemma. Strictly speaking you may withhold your employees’ PAYE and NI without informing them until after the end of the tax year. At that point you can transfer what you have withheld to each employee and give them the choice of transferring this to HMRC or joining you in the No Tax For War campaign. The better option is to let them know upfront what you’re doing and why — just point them towards this website! Anyone who chooses not to get involved can forward to HMRC the withheld tax funds you transferred into their bank after the tax year end on 5 April.
Step 2: Explore options
If a staff member has already submitted their Taxation Trust deed to you, you can pay their PAYE and employee NI into that. A better option is to set a business-wide Taxation Trust covering all your employee and employer PAYE and NI contributions as well as other tax-related outgoings such as Corporation Tax, VAT, and business rates. As a fiduciarythis is the best option for you as well as for your employees.
Step 3: Set up your business Taxation Trust
If your business is incorporated as a limited company, select the Corporate Trust template for your UK location. Follow the same procedure as for your Corporation Tax — personalise, sign, get witnessed, and store securely. Send a copy — not the original — to HMRC.
Step 4: Set up your ring-fenced business account
You must open a separate business bank account to ring-fence your employee and employer PAYE and NI commitments. There can be no mingling with everyday business income and outgoings.
For a business that is not a limited liability company, you’ll still need to withhold the funds in a separate business account opened specifically for this purpose. Whatever transfers you previously made to HMRC are now instead directed into this account.
Step 5: Notify HMRC
Use the employer letter template to explain your lawful position. Use Royal Mail’s signed-for service so you have a record of delivery.
Step 6: Keep records
Maintain a full paper trail of your exchanges with HMRC. Keep digital and printed copies of all correspondence, dates, receipts, and tracking numbers.
Step 7: Year-end review
At your year end — usually 5 April or the end of your tax year — your trustee(s) write to HMRC to inform them that the conditions have not been met and that tax due is rescinded. Notify HMRC that your employees may send the tax and NI you withheld on their account and — at the end of the tax year — thus has been forwarded to them to dispose of as they see fit.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Corporate Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – VAT
Net output VAT is one of the most significant contributions to the HMRC tax pot made by UK businesses, and you have the right to use a Taxation Trustto withhold it lawfully if you believe it is funding crimes against humanity.
Step 1: Set up your Corporate VAT Trust
Use the Corporate Taxation Trust deed for your UK location. Complete, witness, and store the original securely. Send a copy only to HMRC.
Step 2: Step 1: Open a dedicated VAT bank account
Keep net output VAT in a separate bank account to ring-fence it from your other operational business accounts. Even if your business is not a limited liability company, it is still best practice to open a separate account to hold the funds.
Step 3: Notify HMRC
Use the VAT-specific letter template to explain why you are lawfully withholding VAT. Use Royal Mail’s signed-for service so you have delivery details. There’s a list of HMRC recipients with the template.
Step 4: Keep full records
Ensure you maintain a digital and physical paper trail of all correspondence, transactions, and signed-for Royal Mail deliveries to HMRC.
Step 5: Year-end review
At year-end, inform HMRC whether or not they are entitled to payment depending on whether the trust conditions have or have not been met. If they haven’t, it would be prudent for your business to retain the accumulated funds until this campaign point has been settled in a court of law. This is because the net output your business holds belongs to the individuals and businesses you invoiced. Some can identify this easily while others may not be able to and will need to decide how to distribute the funds you accumulated in a lawful, responsible, and ethical manner.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Corporate Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – Council Tax
When you pay household Council Tax to your local authority, the government accounts it within the central Consolidated Fund tax pot. This means some of your Council Tax finds its way towards funding wars, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Local authorities can also use residents’ money to fund initiatives tied to weapons makers, arms trade expos, and more. Here’s how to challenge all this.
Step 1: Open a separate Council Tax account
Ring-fence your Council Tax contributions in a dedicated bank account to keep then separate from the rest of your household income and outgoings.
Step 2: Set up your Council Tax Taxation Trust
Use the correct Taxation Trustdeed for your UK region. Complete it, print it out, get your signature witnessed, and store the original securely. Only ever send copies to your council or anyone else.
Step 3: Notify the council
Use the Council Tax letter template to formally lodge your refusal to pay on legal and ethical grounds. Send it via Royal Mail’s signed-for service and keep a record of the delivery confirmation.
Step 4: Keep records
Save all communications — digital and paper — as this can help you challenge any enforcement action your council may contemplate.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.
Withhold Tax Lawfully – business rates
Like Council Tax, business rates collected by your local authority can be lawfully ring-fenced within a Taxation Trustwhen there’s evidence your payments are helping fund war crimes.
Step 1: Set up a dedicated account
Ring-fence your business rates in a separate business account to keep them separate from your other income and outgoings.
Step 2: Set up your business rates Taxation Trust
Use the appropriate Corporate Taxation Trust deed for your area, complete it and have your signature witnessed, and then store the original. Only send a copy to your local authority — or to anyone else.
Step 3: Notify the council
Use our template letter to explain to your local authority your lawful objection to paying business rates. Include the references to international law and case law in the template. Send using Royal Mail’s signed-for service to prove delivery.
Step 4: Keep a comms audit trail
Record all interactions with the local authority — paper and digital — along with proof of delivery.
Step 5: Year-end action
If at the end of the tax year the local authority can prove without question that the conditions of your Trust have been satisfied, release the funds from your ring-fenced account. If not, these monies come to you and your business as Secondary Beneficiary.
We go into much greater detail about this process in Setting Up a Corporate Trust, which is also included in the downloads packs.