Oklahoma Justices Deny Tribal Members Break From Income Tax (1)

Native Americans living and working on their tribes’ reservations aren’t exempt from Oklahoma income tax, the state high court ruled Tuesday, declining to extend a US Supreme Court ruling beyond the criminal law it involved.

“To date, the United States Supreme Court has not extended its ruling in McGirt to the State’s civil or taxing jurisdiction. And it is not this Court’s place to do so,” the 6-3 Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in an unsigned opinion.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation asked the justices to extend the US Supreme Court’s 2020 holding in McGirt v. Oklahoma—that the tribe’s reservation ...