Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation

In Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation, 447 U.S. 134 (1980), the Court upheld in relevant part a more comprehensive Washington State cigarette tax enforcement scheme that required tribal retailers selling goods on the reservation to collect taxes on sales to nonmembers and to keep extensive records concerning these transactions. The Court rejected the proposition that "principles of federal Indian law, whether stated in terms of pre-emption, tribal self-government, or otherwise, authorize Indian tribes thus to market an exemption from state taxation to persons who would normally do their business elsewhere." 447 U.S., at 155. Moreover, the Tribes had failed to meet their burden of showing that the recordkeeping requirements imposed on tribal retailers were "not reasonably necessary as a means of preventing fraudulent transactions." Id., at 160. In Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation, 447 U.S. 134, 163, 100 S.Ct. 2069, 2086, 65 L.Ed.2d 10 (1980), the Court invalidated the state's excise tax on motor vehicles imposed for the privilege of using such vehicles within the state. The Court held that the excise tax and the tax at issue in Moe were "quite similar": "Each is denominated an excise tax for the 'privilege' of using the covered vehicle in the State, each is assessed annually at a certain percentage of fair market value, and each is sought to be imposed upon vehicles own by the Tribe or its members and used both on and off the reservation." Id. at 162, 100 S.Ct. at 2086.