Background
Robert L. Schulz has an engineering degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy (1963) and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Xavier University (1969) and claims to have completed "most of the course work" for a Ph. D. in Public Administration at the Graduate School of Public Affairs, State University of NY. He served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s.
Theories Advocated/Promoted
Schulz has publicly advocated the section 861 argument, as well as the claim that there is no law making anyone liable for the federal income tax, but lately has been obsessed with the claim that the government cannot take any legal action against him to enforce any tax law without first answering his "petition for redress of grievances."
Books, Web Sites, Videos, and Organizations
Founded (and controls) "We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc." (http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org) and "We the People Congress, Inc." (http://www.wethepeoplecongress.org), both of which have claimed tax exempt status. News about both organizations, and Schulz's activities generally, can be found at http://www.givemeliberty.org/.
Court Actions
As of 2006, Schulz had not filed a federal income tax return since the year 2000, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was investigating whether Schulz had any taxable income for the tax periods of December 31, 2001 through 2004. Schulz v. United States, 2006-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) ¶50,481 (U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Dist. of Nebr. 6/26/2006). In 2005, the IRS had issued summonses against Schulz ordering him to produce books and records for inspection. Schulz moved to quash the summons in federal court, but the courts dismissed Schulz's petition for lack of jurisdiction, holding that the IRS had not yet moved to enforce the summons so Schulz could not demonstrate any harm or controversy. Schulz v. IRS, 413 F.3d 297, 301-02 (2d Cir. 2005). Although the District Court and 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled against Schulz, and dismissed his action, Schulz has since claimed that he was victorious, mainly because he misunderstood the court's rulings.
One of Schulz's organizations was the lead plaintiff (Schulz was also a plaintiff) in a civil suit filed against the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies to require them to respond to a "petition for redress of grievances" and stop enforcing the tax laws against them until their petition has been answered, citing the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. The suit was dismissed by the D.C. District Court and the dismissal was affirmed by the D.C. Court of Appeals. We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc. v. United States, No. 04-cv-1211 (U.S.D.C. D.C. 8/31/2005), aff'd 485 F.3d 140, 2007 TNT 90-9, No. 05-5359 (D.C. Cir. 5/8/2007), cert. denied, Nos. 07-680 and 07-681 (1/7/2008), rehearing den. (2/25/2008).
Schulz and his two nonprofit organizations, We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc., and We the People Congress, Inc., have been permanently enjoined from continuing to promote a “Tax Termination Package” as part of “Operation Stop Withholding” to help individuals stop withholding, paying, and filing federal taxes. United States v. Robert L. Schulz et al., No. 1:07-cv-00352 (U.S.D.C. N.D.N.Y. 08/09/2007), aff'd No. 07-3729 (2nd Cir. 2/22/2008), cert. den., No. 08-317 (10/14/2008). On April 7, 2008, the government moved that Schulz be held in the contempt for failing to provide the list of customer names and identifying information required by the permanent injunction. Schulz was found in contempt on April 28, and ordered to pay sanctions of $2,000 per day if he did not deliver the required information by May 5th. Schulz apparently complied with the order, although the court nevertheless ordered him to pay a sanction of $500 for his contempt. No. 1:07-cv-00352, Doc. Nos. 54 and 62 (4/28/2008 and 5/15/2008).
Schulz unsuccessfully fought summonses issued by the IRS to obtain financial records of his exempt organizations. See, for example, Robert L. Schulz v. United States, 2007 TNT 83-15, No. 05-17388 (9th Cir. 4/27/2007), (affirming denial of petition to quash third-party summons served on PayPal for financial records); Robert L. Schulz v. United States et al. 2006 TNT 221-15, No. 06-0075 (2nd Cir. 11/14/2006), (affirming dismissal of petition as not timely filed).
As of March 8, 2010, the Foundation reported on its web site that the Internal Revenue Service had revoked the Foundation's tax exempt status, effective retroactively to the year 2003. The report also stated that the IRS was preparing to execute levies against the Foundation for alleged tax deficiencies stemming from the revocation of tax exempt status. "The IRS Again," March 8, 2010, We the People Foundation.
On September 21, 2010, apparently as a result of the revocation of the tax exempt status and IRS collection actions, two U.S. Tax Court petitions were filed by Schulz. See We the People Congress, Inc. v. Commissioner, case no. 020999-10L; and We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc. v. Commissioner, case no. 020998-10L. On October 31, 2013, the U.S. Tax Court ruled that the IRS could "proceed with the various collection actions proposed" against both organizations.
Students/Disciples/Associates
On March 2, 2001, Schulz's "We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education, Inc." published a full-page advertisement in USA Today naming five employers who had stopped withholding taxes from wages paid to their employees: Walter Thompson of Cencal Aviation, Inc., Richard Simkanin of Arrow Custom Plastics, Inc., David Bosset of Bosset Marketing Partners, Inc., Nick Jesson of No Time Delay Electronics, Inc., and Leonard Roberto of Batavia Enclosures, Inc.
More recently, a taxpayer claiming to be one of the parties to the "We the People Foundation" lawsuit against the United States government petitioned the Tax Court in an attempt to block IRS collection actions. The Tax Court found that his positions were "frivolous and groundless" and imposed sanctions of $3,500. Richard Keith McFarland v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2008-59, 2008 TNT 101-14, No. 15358-06S (5/22/2008).
