Opinion: Huge tax advantages for marijuana in Indian Country


An illegal marijuana farm on public land in California. Photo from Addictiontreatment.org

Attorney discusses the potential tax benefits and challenges of marijuana development in Indian Country:
Native American tribes are poised to move into the lucrative legal marijuana businesses. With spreading legalization and with taxes being levied right and left, tribal tax advantages could be huge. In California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, the Supreme Court ruled that in states permitting gaming, tribes can conduct gaming on Native American lands unhindered by state regulation. A year later, Congress enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, creating a regulatory framework for gaming on Indian lands.

Today, Native American tribes are looking to expand beyond casinos into marijuana, now legal in 4 states, and legal for medical use in 23. As governments try to exact on taxes to cash in, the idea of a tax-free ticket to the industry is not lost on Native Americans. Some tribes are considering changes to tribal laws as well as looking at commercial opportunities. California’s Pinoleville Pomo Nation is poised to be the first tribe to grow medical marijuana.

Federal law still outlaws marijuana, and this too could give Native American Tribes big advantages. The Department of Justice has taken notice, issuing a memorandum last October that reviewed their policy on marijuana issues as they relate to Native American Tribes. Yet some tribes could move in big just as they did with casinos. Native American tribes are looking at new sources of income.

Absent an express authorization from Congress, states do not have the power to tax Native Americans living on a reservation whose income is derived from reservation sources. However, a state may tax Native Americans on income (including wages from tribal employment) if they reside in the state but outside the reservation. As with many other tax rules, these rules are becoming more controversial. Expect renewed discussion of these rules and their limits in the future.

Get the Story:
Robert W. Wood: Native American Tribes Eye Marijuana Business---With Their Tax-Free Gaming Advantage (Forbes 3/23)

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