Law Commons^™

Taxation And Doing Business In Indian Country, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

Furthering investment in Indian country (a term that includes, but is not limited to, reservations) is an important goal, but potential investors are hesitant - and with reason. One disincentive to invest is uncertainty about tax liability. Understanding taxation in Indian country requires knowledge not only of traditional tax law, but also of American Indian law principles dating from the early nineteenth century, and not many practitioners are up to that task. This article tries to make sense, as much as is possible, of the doctrines that have developed over the centuries.

The article first discusses some basics: the concept …

Conference Transcript: The New Realism: The Next Generation Of Scholarship In Federal Indian Law, Sarah Krakoff

Publications

No abstract provided.

Chickasaw Nation: Interpreting A Broken Statute, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This report discusses the Supreme Court's 2001 decision in Chickasaw Nation v. United States, in which the Supreme Court interpreted a provision of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that contained contradictory phrases - one suggesting that Indian tribes were exempt from some occupational and excise taxes and one suggesting the contrary. The statute on its face made no sense, and the legislative history was of little help in resolving the ambiguity. Although the statute was clearly broken, the Court concluded that no ambiguity existed and that Congress did not intend to exempt tribes from those various wagering taxes. The author …

Doing Business In Indian Country: Introduction To American Indian Law Concepts Affecting Taxation, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article describes some of the issues that will affect whether national, state, and tribal governments can tax investors who do business, or who invest in doing business, within Indian country (a term generally meaning American Indian reservations, although it can be broader than that).

Absent treaty language or express statutory language to the contrary, tribal members are subject to federal taxes of general application, such as the income tax. The Internal Revenue Code does contain some specific provisions exempting certain sorts of income, such as that from fishing-rights related activities, from taxation. In general, nonmembers of a tribe who …

American Indian Law Meets The Internal Revenue Code: Warbus V. Commissioner, Erik M. Jensen

Faculty Publications

This article examines a 1998 Tax Court decision, Warbus v. Commissioner, that has implications for both American Indian law and federal tax law. Section 7873 of the Internal Revenue Code exempts from taxation amounts derived by American Indian tribal members from fishing-rights related activit[ies] of their tribes. Taxpayer Warbus claimed that discharge of indebtedness income from the foreclosure of his fishing boat qualified for the exclusion; the Tax Court said no. The author argues that Warbus was wrongly decided for two reasons: the court failed to take account of basic principles of American Indian law, and the court misapplied the …

Negotiated Sovereignty: Intergovernmental Agreements With American Indian Tribes As Models For Expanding First Nations’ Self-Government, David H. Getches

Publications

Constitutional issues related to First Nations sovereignty have dominated Aboriginal affairs in Canada for a considerable period. The constitutional entrenchment of Aboriginal self-government has, however, received a setback with the recent failure of the Charlottetown Accord in October of 1992. Nonetheless, day-to-day issues must be accommodated, even while this more fundamental constitutional question remains unresolved. This paper illustrates the American experience with negotiated intergovernmental agreements between tribes and individual states. These agreements have, for example, resolved jurisdictional disputes over taxation, solid waste disposal, and law enforcement between state governments and tribal authorities. The author suggests that these intergovernmental agreements in …

Agenda: Natural Resource Development In Indian Country, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Natural Resource Development in Indian Country (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Richard B. Collins.

Indian reservations constitute about 2.5% of all land in the country and 5% of all land in the American West. During the last two decades, Indian natural resources issues have moved to the forefront as tribal governments have dramatically expanded their regulatory programs, judicial systems. and resource development activities. This major symposium will address current developments and assess likely future directions in the areas of tribal, federal, and state regulation; tribal-state intergovernmental agreements; financing; mineral …

Putting Indian Reservation Water Rights To Use, Richard B. Collins

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

10 pages.

Bryan V. Itasca County, Minnesota, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

The Taxation Of Indian Property, Robert C. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.