indian taxation

Florida Jurisdictional Brief in Seminole Tax Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Seminole’s petition is here.

IRS Seeks Applications for Advisory Committee for the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

IRS Seeks Applications for Advisory Committee for the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division
 
IR-2011-107, Oct. 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is seeking applications for vacancies on the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). The committee provides a venue for public input on relevant areas of tax administration.

Vacancies exist in the following customer segments:

  • Employee Plans – two vacancies
  • Exempt Organizations – two vacancies
  • Tax Exempt Bonds – two vacancies
  • Indian Tribal Governments – one vacancy

Members are appointed by the Department of the Treasury and serve two-year terms, beginning in June 2012. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 1, 2011.

The ACT is an organized public forum for the IRS and representatives who deal with employee plans, exempt organizations, tax-exempt bonds, and federal, state, local and Indian tribal governments. The ACT allows the IRS to receive regular input on administrative policy and procedures of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE).

Applications can be made by letter or by completing an applications form available on IRS.gov. In either case, applications should reflect the proposed member’s qualifications. Members of the ACT may not be federally registered lobbyists. A notice published in the Federal Register, dated Oct. 24, 2011, contains more details about the ACT and the application process.

The ACT member application, along with the required Tax Check Waiver form, are available on this website.

Applications should be sent to Bobby Zarin, TE/GE Communications and Liaison Director, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Ave., NW-SE:T:CL Penn Bldg., Washington, DC 20224, or by fax to 202-283-9956 (not a toll-free number).

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=248966,00.html

Seminole Tribe v. Florida: Petition for Review in Fla. SCT over Taxes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Seminole Tribe Brief on Jurisdiction

Lower court materials are here.

Update in Unkechauge v. New York Update: St. Regis Mohawk Objection to “Prepay” Tax Scheme

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials:

New York Motion for Summary J

St. Regis Mohawk Motion for Summary J

New York Reply

St. Regis Mohawk Reply

SCIA Hearing on E-Commerce: Written Testimony

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Panel #  1

Mr. Geoffrey Blackwell
Chief
Office of Native Affairs and Policy, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC

Dr. Howard Hays M.D., M.S.P.H.
Acting Chief Information Officer
Indian Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC

Continue reading →

Native Wholesale Supply Loses Tax Case to Federal Government

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in United States v. Native Wholesale Supply (W.D. N.Y.):

DCT Order In US v NWS

US Motion for Summary Judgment

NWS Motion for Summary Judgment

N. Arapaho Tribe Opening Brief in Tenth Circuit Case Challenging State Taxes in Wind River Reservation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opening brief in Northern Arapaho Tribe v. Harnsberger:

NAT Opening Brief

Lower court materials are here.

Ninth Circuit Rejects Yakama Indian Nation Challenge to Washington Taxes: “Economic Reality” Continues to Be Foreclosed in Indian Tax Cases

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s opinion in Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation v. Gregoire.

Here are the briefs (lower court materials here):

Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Appellant

Washington Answer Brief

Yakama Indian Nation Reply

An excerpt from the majority:

In 1978, a three-judge district court held that the legal incidence of the Washington cigarette tax did not fall on the Tribes. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation v. Washington, 446 F. Supp. 1339 (E.D. Wash. 1978). In 1980, the Supreme Court agreed with the three-judge court and upheld the validity of Washington’s cigarette tax and its requirement that tribal retailers collect the tax from nonIndian cigarette purchasers. Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, 447 U.S. 134, 159-61 (1980). Although some elements of Washington’s cigarette tax law have been modified over the past thirty years, we conclude, as did the district court in awarding summary judgment to the State, that none of those changes has materially altered the legal incidence of the cigarette tax approved of in Colville, and we affirm.

And from District Judge Guilford’s concurrence:

Indians in the Tribes of the Yakama Nation might well wonder how the analysis of what courts call “legal incidence” can be done without reviewing the economic reality of the tax burden on them. And here, a review of these economic realities likely would reveal that the tax at issue imposes an economic burden on Indians in the Yakama Nation. But the law requires an analysis through a prism that blocks economic reality. Thus, following Supreme Court authority, without the guidance of economic reality, I must concur with the majority’s opinion. Apart from economic reality, the provisions of the Revised Code of Washington §§ 82.24 et seq. are not materially different from those upheld in Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, 447 U.S. 134 (1980), and they follow established principles of Indian tax immunity. Thus, I concur in the judgment.

Washington Supreme Court Agrees to Review Constitutional Challenge to State-Tribal Tax Agreements

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the news article, via Pechanga.

And the materials so far:

Brief_of_Appellant_AUTO

Wash SCT Accepting Direct Review

Lower court materials:

State Motion to Dismiss

AUTO Response

Second Circuit Affirms Preliminary Injunction against Enforcement of PACT Act against Red Earth LLC

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is today’s opinion in Red Earth LLC v. United States: 10-3165_opn

An excerpt:

Appeal from an order of the Western District of New York (Richard J. Arcara, Judge) granting a preliminary injunction to stay enforcement of provisions of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act (“PACT Act”) that require mail-order cigarette sellers to pay state excise taxes.  The government argues that the district court erred in concluding that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim that the PACT Act’s provision requiring out-of-state tobacco sellers to pay state excise taxes regardless of their contact with that state violates due process.  We affirm the district court’s order granting the preliminary injunction.

Briefs are here and here and here.