The federal Indian Gaming and Regulatory Act (IGRA) is a case in point. Courts have found that even where a federal statute is silent on state tax authority, an implied preemption can nevertheless exist. To the surprise of some (or perhaps none), the rule that unless expressly preempted, a state is free to tax the activities of a non-Native enterprise on reservation land is not ironclad. Thus, probing further into the permutations and nuances of the law is far beyond the scope of this article. Supreme Court precedent in this area has been anything but clear. However, a state can require a non-Native trader to collect and remit cigarette taxes from non-tribal member purchasers.īeyond this fundamental rule and the Indian Trader statutes, the tax waters become deep and murky, partly because U.S.
Today, the law requires non-Native persons and businesses to obtain a license from the Bureau of Indian Affairs before entering into commercial relations with the tribes. The Supreme Court has ruled that a state cannot impose tax on revenues earned by a non-Native trader operating on tribal lands because such traders are federally licensed and subject to extensive federal regulations.
