As a licensed tax preparer, I am required to encourage you to pay your income taxes in a timely manner. However, I am not required to make you do so, if you feel morally compelled to protest the current state of the U.S. Government in this manner. However, I am going to let you know the consequences of not paying your federal income taxes.
If you choose to not pay taxes as a form of protest, the IRS will not see your lack of payment as any different from someone who doesn’t pay taxes because they are lazy, irresponsible, or broke. Penalties and interest will accrue, and you will receive notices requesting payment. They will start sending notices via certified mail. This part of the collection process could last a year or two. If you still do not pay, the IRS will move on to the liens and levies stage, where they will garnish your wages (if you are an employee) and/or take funds out of your bank account until they have received the amount owed.
This is assuming that you have filed a tax return with a “balance due.” If you do not file, and you owe, there are additional penalties for failure to file. If you do not file, and you are actually due a refund, the statute of limitations for refunds only lasts 3 years: for example, if you wait until a potentially more palatable president is inagurated in 2021 to file your 2016 taxes (the ones due this April), the IRS doesn’t have to pay you any refund due. This 3 year limit does not apply to the collections process.