taxation – Page 21 – Turtle Talk

Federal Court Rejects Equitable Defenses in Agua Caliente Water Case

February 25, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

Download Minute Order Granting Plaintiffs Motions for Partial Summary Judgment here.

Previous documents posted here.

Seminole Tribe v. Stranburg Cert Petition

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Seminole Tribe v. Stranburg Cert Petition

Question presented:

Florida imposes a tax on gross receipts from utility services that are delivered to retail customers. Under express statutory authority, utility providers may separately itemize this utility tax on a customer’s bill and add it to the total charge for utility services. If the utility provider does so, the customer is legally required to remit the tax to the utility provider, which then transfers the payment to the State. Here, petitioner is a federally recognized Indian tribe that has purchased utility services delivered to tribal reservations. Petitioner’s utility providers have exercised their statutory right to separately itemize the utility tax when billing the Tribe for such services.

The question presented is:

When a utility provider exercises a state-law right to expressly pass on a utility tax to a federally recognized Indian tribe for utility services delivered to the tribe’s reservations and the tribe is therefore legally obligated to pay the tax, is the tax an impermissible
direct tax on the tribe?

Lower court materials here.

Registration for Next Week’s AIPRA CLE in Albuquerque

February 19, 2016Sarah M Donnelly

There is still time to register for the CLE on the American Indian Probate Reform Act next Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This five-hour course will expose you to the principles, purposes, and implications of AIPRA with the last hour dedicated to the ethics of writing AIPRA-compliant wills.

Course instructors are:

Stephanie Hudson, Adjunct Clinical Professor for the Jodi Marquette American Indian Wills Clinic at Oklahoma City University School of Law
Gus Kerndt, Fiduciary Trust Officer with the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians in the Department of the Interior
Christine Zuni Cruz, Dickason Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico

The session will be held in the Auditorium at the New Mexico State Bar, 5121 Masthead St. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87109. The charge for attendance is $350 for attorneys receiving 5 CLE credits (pending). Admission is free for law students, and others may attend for a nominal contribution to the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Lunch is provided.

Click here to register for the event.

Flandreau Santee Sioux Prevails in Tax Dispute with South Dakota

February 17, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order in Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe v. Gerlach (D. S.D.):

60 DCT Order

Briefs here.

Oral Argument in Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Sac and Fox Nation: Bill Rice Addresses the Court

February 15, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

For one of the finest oral arguments of our time, and a very good thing for National NALSA moot court competitors to hear as they prep for the competition a few weeks away, check out Bill Rice arguing before the Supreme Court, beginning at about 34:20:

Here.