Peace Tax Return

At income tax time this Peace Tax Return (PTR) produced by Conscience Canada can be used together with your official Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) tax return.  This form is for those who object to contributing to military spending on grounds of conscience and wish to declare their objection to the Canadian government.

This is not an official Income Tax and Benefit Return form. It is not an offense to use it, nor are we aware of any charges against Canadians who have used it to state their conscientious objection to military taxation.

To complete the PTR on-line follow this link: Peace Tax Return for the 2023 tax year

As well a printable hard-copy (PDF) version can be downloaded, printed, completed and mailed.


The Peace Tax Return provides two main options.

Option A is for people who:

  • pay no income tax at all, or
  • have income tax deducted at source or otherwise automatically paid in full and, as a result, at tax time they owe no tax or have a refund owed to them, or
  • do not wish to withhold any part of the taxes they owe, but still wish to state their objection to paying taxes that support the military war machine.

Thus Option A is limited to a Declaration of Conscience that states the user’s objection to paying taxes that support the military.		Option B is for people who want to actually withhold the portion of their taxes supporting the military and have tax owing. Option B provides two ways to do this:

  • Withholding the entire portion of their federal income taxes that supports the military. (Based on data from the Public Accounts for Canada, we calculate the military’s share (percentage) of all spending each year by the government. This percentage can then be applied to a person’s total net federal income tax for the year to determine the portion of their taxes that support the military.)
  • Withholding only a symbolic (lesser) portion of their military taxes. The user determines the amount to withhold.


By using either Option A or Option B of our Peace Tax Return you send a message to the government that you want your taxes to be used for peace, not war.

The Canadian government does not currently recognize conscientious objection to military taxation as a legal right. Withholding taxes is likely to result in a variety of responses from the CRA. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions for more on this.

NOTE:  Conscience Canada no longer maintains a Peace Tax Trust Fund where taxpayer’s withheld military taxes could be deposited for safekeeping. It is up to each individual withholding military tax to decide on how to handle their withheld money. You may wish to show support for full legal recognition of conscientious objection to military taxation by donating some or all of your withheld military taxes to a charitable group working to promote peace and justice.

Please be aware that by using this Peace Tax Return and sending a copy to Conscience Canada (CC) you will be regarded as a voting member of CC. You will receive our twice yearly newsletter and occasional e‐mails from us to keep you informed of new peace initiatives and other CC news and ideas.

If for any reason you are having problems with the PTR, please email us at info@consciencecanada.ca, or write to us at Box 200, Van Anda, BC V0N 3K0.


Taxes for Peace not War — Divest from the Military