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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 …