Business | Law

Oklahoma tribes might walk away from meeting over sales tax





A highly anticipated meeting between the city of Shawnee, Oklahoma, and four tribes is in jeopardy, The Countywide & Sun reports.

The city agreed to meet with the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, the Kickapoo Tribe and the Sac and Fox Nation on March 24 to discuss sales taxes.

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation agreed to host the meeting at its Cultural Heritage Center. But the city wants to meet at a different "non-government" location, without lawyers and without staff.

“If you do not want to meet with a delegation from the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Sac and Fox Nation, you may decline our invitation and we will consider the matter closed," CPN Chairman John “Rocky” Barrett said in response, the paper reported.

The city wants the tribes to collect a 3 percent tax on the sale of goods to non-Indians. The tribes are asking for more information about the city's tax revenues.

Get the Story:
Tribes, Shawnee at Odds Over Meeting Site (The Countywide & Sun 3/13)

Related Stories:
Oklahoma city to meet with tribes over request for sales taxes (02/28)
City cites Supreme Court ruling in push for sales tax from tribes (2/24)
Tribes seek more information about city's request for sales tax (02/19)
Citizen Potawatomi Nation plans to create separate community (2/18)
Citizen Potawatomi Nation questions city's taxation stance (2/6)
Oklahoma city wants tribes to pay taxes on non-Indian sales (2/5)

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