Activists in the Bay Area are shining a light on the connection between recently announced budget cuts and a corporate culture of tax evasion. Late last month, members of San Francisco's US Uncut movement held a sit-in at a Bank of America branch in the Mission District to call attention to the fact that the mega-bank paid no federal taxes for years 2009 or 2010.

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As tax-time approached, the Yes Men unleashed a satirical media hoax on General Electric, another corporate tax evader. They issued a phony press release that was widely circulated via the Associated Press, stating GE would be returning its entire 2010 tax refund of $3.2 billion to the US Treasury. Read More

On April 14th, San Mateo Take Back Democracy called for election finance reform to stop corporations from essentially buying tax-break votes. Their members and allied organizations protested in front of San Mateo's A.P. Giannini branch of the Bank of America. Demonstrators pointed out irony in the fact that Giannini founded what later became the Bank of America at this location. His bank was referred to as the "Little Fellow's Bank" because it served immigrants and working-class people who were denied loans by other banks in the early 1900's.

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San Francisco Uncut announced an April 15th march around the SF Financial District and staged a musical performance inside a Bank Of America lobby.

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Taxes returns are due on Monday, April 18th, and more rallies are planned outside banks. In Oakland demonstrators will make the rounds of several banks in an action dubbed "Make the Banks Pay on Tax Day" while a separate protest will be held in front of Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco. A Tax Day demo will also be held in Santa Cruz.

US Uncut | Yes Men