The Firm is well-qualified to advise tribes about the tax consequences of particular business transactions, and we have negotiated complex tax agreements with a number of states and with federal agencies to minimize those consequences. Litigation over jurisdiction to tax tribal assets, tribal activities, tribal income or on-reservation business is a particular area of expertise, as is litigation to establish the extent of that jurisdiction. For example, our lawyers won a significant victory in the South Dakota Supreme Court, resulting in the State's inability to impose its motor-fuel taxes on Indians on South Dakota reservations.
In addition, we:
- represented 5 Minnesota Tribes in negotiating sales-and-use-tax agreements with the State of Minnesota,
- favorably resolved the application of state income-tax laws to passive income of tribal members, and
- Favorably resolved the application of federal income-tax laws to minor trusts at the time the income was generated.
