{"id":79779,"date":"2018-06-05T16:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T23:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=79779"},"modified":"2018-06-05T15:41:02","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T22:41:02","slug":"floridas-miccosukee-tribe-on-the-hook-for-billion-dollar-tax-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/floridas-miccosukee-tribe-on-the-hook-for-billion-dollar-tax-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s Miccosukee Tribe on the Hook for Billion-Dollar Tax Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Miccosukee tribe of South Florida<\/a> could be facing a bill of up to $1 billion from the IRS after a federal appellate judge ruled on Monday that tribal members who receive distributions from Native American casinos are liable to pay federal income tax, in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulation Act, 1988 (IGRA).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Billy Cypress, former chairman of the Miccosukee tribe, was accused of instructing tribal members to conceal casino disbursements from the IRS to avoid paying federal income tax. (Image: Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Miccosukee tribe, which operates Miccosukee Indian Bingo and Gaming in Miami-Dade County, Florida, had argued that disbursements made to its members were tax-exempt under the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act (TGWEA).<\/p>\n

This is an Obama-era law which established that welfare and social benefit payments made to individuals by tribal governments were not liable to federal taxation.<\/p>\n

Evasive Action<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld a trial judge\u2019s decision\u00a0that the South Florida tribe can be held liable for failing to withhold and report gaming receipts and disbursements.<\/p>\n

\n

The court heard the tribe\u2019s 600-plus members had received between $120,000 and $160,000 annually from gaming revenue and that tribal chairman Billy Cypress “instructed its members \u2026 to take active measures to conceal from the IRS their distributions from” casino income to avoid paying federal taxes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cypress was chairman between 1995 and 2009 and was reelected in 2016, despite allegations he had stolen millions from the tribe during his first tenure.<\/p>\n

The tax case came to light in 2001 when federal authorities learned that tribal member Sally Jim had failed to report $272,000 in disbursements from the tribe.<\/p>\n

In the subsequent lawsuit, the Miccosukee intervened on her behalf, at which point the government discovered tax evasion had been systematic among its members.<\/p>\n

Casino Payments Are Not Welfare Payments <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Tribal governments generally distribute casino revenues to tribal members so they can live on sovereign lands without having to rely solely on federal assistance.<\/p>\n

But IGRA asserts that, while casinos themselves are exempt from paying state taxes, tribal members are not immune from federal taxes and the court ruled that TGWEA does not supersede IGRA, nor can disbursements from casinos be said to be \u201cwelfare payments.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Even if the distribution arguably promotes the welfare of a tribe, the distribution payments cannot qualify as Indian general welfare benefits under the TGWEA because Congress specifically subjected such distributions to federal taxation in IGRA,\u201d the court ruled.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Miramar solo Robert Saunooke, Jim\u2019s attorney, said there would be an appeal to the US Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Eleventh Circuit got it wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cTribes have the right to collect revenues and distribute those revenues as they see fit without being subjected to taxation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio Kidnap Claim<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Miccosukee tribe is fiercely independent and quick to assert its sovereign rights. Earlier this year, it seized a newborn baby, Ingrid Johnson, from a hospital in Kendall, South Miami, against the wishes of her parents.<\/p>\n

The child\u2019s maternal grandmother, a Miccosukee member, had asked a tribal court for an \u201cemergency order granting temporary custody\u201d because she disapproved of her non-Indian father and was concerned about domestic abuse.<\/p>\n

The court later backtracked and returned the infant after it was accused of overstepping its authority. Marco Rubio said the incident amounted to kidnapping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Miccosukee tribe of South Florida could be facing a bill of up to $1 billion from the IRS after a federal appellate judge ruled on Monday that tribal members who receive distributions from Native American casinos are liable to pay federal income tax, in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulation Act, 1988 (IGRA). The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":79782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,60,18,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida\u2019s Miccosukee Tribe on the Hook for Billion-Dollar Tax Bill<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Miccosukee tribe of South Florida, which operates the Miccosukee Indian Bingo and Gaming facility in Miami-Dade County, loses its 17-year legal battle over payments tribal members that avoided federal income tax.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/floridas-miccosukee-tribe-on-the-hook-for-billion-dollar-tax-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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