TULSA, Okla. — In a case surrounding state taxes, the Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruled against tribal claims and narrowed the scope of the U.S. Supreme Court's McGirt ruling.
In December 2020, Alicia Stroble filed three Oklahoma Individual Income Tax Returns for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019 and claimed her income as exempt.
In order for her income to be exempt it needed to meet three criteria:
must be a tribal member
must live on Indian land to which the member belongs
must work on Indian land to which the member belongs
The Audit Services Division of the Oklahoma Tax Commission sent three letters, one for each year, to notify Stroble that the "Exempt Tribal Income exclusion has been disallowed or adjusted. The case went on to an Administrative Law Review which advised to grant the protest, but the Oklahoma Tax Commission pushed forward saying the review erred.
The case made it to the state supreme court after that.
In a decision released on July 1, that court found Stroble does not live on Indian land. "Stroble argues her house is located within the boundaries of a formal reservation. The Commission concluded that Stroble's residence was not located within a formal reservation, because the land was neither owned by the Tribe nor held in trust for the Tribe by the federal government nor subject to any restrictions. Rather, Stroble lived on unrestricted, non-trust, private fee land."
On appeal Stroble used the McGirt ruling as precedent to redefine Indian Land, but the state supreme court quoted the federal ruling, which limits the scope of McGirt to criminal cases. "[T]he State worries that our decision will have significant consequences for civil and regulatory law. The only question before us, however, concerns the statutory definition of "Indian country" as it applies in federal criminal law under the [Major Crimes Act], and often nothing requires other civil statutes or regulations to rely on definitions found in the criminal law."
The ruling released today finds Stroble is not exempt.
Muscogee Chief David Hill sent this statement:
Gov. Kevin Stitt applauded the ruling:
“This is a big win for the future of Oklahoma. From day one, I’ve fought to make sure every Oklahoman is treated equally.
"Tribal governments, liberal groups, and some elected officials have pushed for special tax exemptions that would create a two-tiered system — one set of rules for tribal citizens and another for everyone else. That’s wrong. It would divide our state and weaken the public services every family relies on.
"This ruling makes it clear that attempts to expand McGirt into civil and tax matters have no basis in the law. We are one Oklahoma. And as long as I’m Governor, we aren’t going backwards.”
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