Tribal and State Taxation
The firm's knowledge of tribal taxation issues is nationally recognized, and is evidenced not only by the results of litigation, but—perhaps more significantly—by the tribal taxes developed by the firm which are paid without protest. The firm has assisted its Indian tribal clients in implementing several different tax structures, individually designed to reflect the unique attributes and to meet the special needs of each client. The firm prides itself on the continuing assistance we offer in the implementation of procedures to ensure effective administration and collection of taxes.
We also have an intimate knowledge of New Mexico tax laws and an effective working relationship with the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. The impact of the State corporate income tax and gross receipts tax is of real significance to our business clients who are required to maneuver through the frequently obscure provisions of those laws. Our success is attributable in large part to the firm's intimate knowledge of those laws and regulations and to the reputation of the firm with State officials and with the legislators who shape those laws.
The firm has assisted eight Indian nations in enacting and implementing possessory interest taxes. We have assisted tribes in drafting and implementing an ad valorem property tax and a sales and business license tax. Indeed, the firm's pioneering efforts in the tribal tax area have enabled Indian nations throughout the United States to benefit from tribal taxes. In the most significant modern Indian tax case, the firm prepared and then defended oil and gas taxes for the Jicarilla Apache Tribe through a final decision upholding those taxes by the United States Supreme Court. Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, 455 U.S. 130 (1982). Similarly, innovative Blackfeet taxes prepared by the firm withstood legal challenge in Burlington Northern R.R. Co. v. Blackfeet Tribe of Blackfeet Indian Reservation, 924 F.2d 899 (9th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1212 (1992).
We also have been successful in barring state taxation of activity within Indian country. The firm's attorneys were successful in barring the imposition of state and local property taxes on unrestricted fee land owned by Indians within Indian reservation boundaries. Battese v. Apache County, 129 Ariz. 295, 630 S.2d 1027 (1981). The firm also obtained a favorable ruling on the federal law exemption from the New Mexico gross receipts tax. New Mexico Tax'n & Rev. Dep't v. Laguna Industries, Inc., 855 P.2d 127 (N.M. 1993), barred the state from taxing services non-Indians provide to Indian entities within Indian country. Following that favorable decision, the firm worked with the state's Taxation Department to implement new regulations to carry out the court's ruling. We also currently represent a client in litigation regarding valuation of off-reservation fee land for purposes of property tax assessments.
