Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Tribal citizens must still pay state income tax


OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Tax Commission dominated Wednesday that tribal citizens are still accountable for paying particular person state income taxes.

The case took place after the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court determination in McGirt v. Oklahoma and greater than 9,000 taxpayers claiming exemption from state taxation as a result of tribal income exclusion from August 2020 to Sept. 20, 2022. The state says 642 of those that disagreed with the Tax Commission’s dealing with of the claimed exemption filed protests.

“However, the McGirt decision was limited to whether the defendant’s crimes were committed within Indian Country, as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1151, in order to determine whether the state’s criminal jurisdiction was preempted by federal law, specifically, the Major Crimes Act (“MCA”). Id. at 2459. The Court focused on whether the land where the crimes were committed qualified as a reservation under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(a) for this purpose. Id. The Court ultimately held that, “For MCA purposes, land reserved for the Creek Nation since the 19th century remains ‘Indian country.’” Id. at 2456. As a result, the Court determined the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute the defendant since the crimes were committed within Indian Country. Id. at 2478.”

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Oklahoma Tax Commission

Since the McGirt determination, the follow-up case Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta restricted the scope of the unique determination to reduce tribal jurisdiction. The Tax Commission dominated that McGirt can’t be used as the only real motive for tax exemption.

“I am pleased to learn that today the Tax Commission released a decision reaffirming that every Oklahoma citizen is required to pay their fair share,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement on Wednesday.

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“This is a ruling in favor of certainty, fairness, and equality for all Oklahomans. We all drive on the same roads, send our kids to the same public schools and benefit from the same state services, so it is only right that every citizen of the state of Oklahoma, regardless of race or heritage, should contribute their fair share.”

The state mentioned it projected a lack of $75 million in income every year had been to increase the McGirt determination.

2 News Oklahoma has reached out to native tribal leaders and can add these responses to this story after they’re supplied.

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