Taxing Situation

A tax-protesting CEO enlists his employees in the cause

A A A Comments By Joe Pappalardo Thursday, Aug 10 2000

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In September he decided to ring in the new millennium by stopping all withholding of his employees' money. Simkanin distributed his arguments and backup materials to his staff. He even sent out a press release. To boost confidence, he brought in a sympathetic paralegal to give a voluntary educational class about tax law.

"My CPA was one of the first guys to jump ship," Simkanin says with a laugh. "I said, all I use you guys for is to pay taxes anyway, so that's no big loss."

Arrow Custom Plastics CEO Dick Simkanin says he doesn't have to withhold federal taxes from his employees' paychecks.

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The accountant was not alone; Simkanin says two employees quit when the new tax scheme was implemented.

The reaction from the fringe press was fairly quick. Media Bypass put him on the cover ("Company CEO obeys the law; Arrow Plastics stops IRS withholding -- no law requires it!") and he was invited to speak at the We the People gathering in Washington, D.C.

If the IRS drops the hammer on Arrow Custom Plastics, Simkanin says he will represent himself in court, with some well-known national tax protester attorneys serving as his counselors. His argument centers on the Constitution; any law that violates that supreme document is void, he says.

For him the fight is simple and, considering the likelihood of IRS filing criminal charges, ironic:

"If we don't follow laws we'll all end up as part of the New World Order and things will really go downhill."

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