Background
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 for Constitutional Education, Inc.," and "We the People Congress, Inc.," both of which claim tax exempt status. His/their website is http://www.givemeliberty.org/.
Court Actions
In 2005, the IRS 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, 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). 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. No. 1:07-cv-00352, Doc. No. 50-3 (2nd Cir.).
Schulz has also been fighting (unsuccessfully) summonses that have been 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). It therefore appears likely that there will be further actions against Schulz and his organizations within the foreseeable future.
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).