Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Indian tobacco stores all across northeast Oklahoma may owe the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma thousands in delinquent taxes according to a Cherokee official, due to an overlooked 3 percent sales tax law, that had been approved in 1990. The tax law was discovered this month, during a review of its retail sales code by the CNO Tax Commission. CNO offices have already begun to collect sales tax on non-tobacco items.

Don Crittenden, a Cherokee Council member since 1990 said, the law does not exempt tobacco products but also said, "I don't think they intended to tax tobacco products when the law was written, but that's the way it is being interpreted now." If Indian smoke shops began collecting taxes on tobacco products it would "take away the competitive advantage'' over the non-Indian tobacco retailers, said Crittenden, "we don't want to do anything that would break their backs."

The law can be easily rectified if the Cherokee Council meets next month, said Jim Briggs chairman of the CNO Tax Commission, and votes on a recommendation to exempt tobacco products and also for exempting the past tax debt from collection. "It can be a non-issue, but the law is clear, in my opinion, and I won't ignore the law,'' said Briggs, who is an attorney in Tulsa.

Briggs has misinterpreted the tax code, said Pat Ragsdale former chief marshal of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and said that he introduced the legislation that established the tax code in 1990. "He's wrong," Ragsdale said. "Tobacco products were never to be taxed by the Cherokee Nation after we signed the compact with the state of Oklahoma. That would be a tax on a tax."

Ms. Scott said, "I respect the Tax Commission chairman's interpretation of the law, but I don't think it is an issue. I believe it is something we can deal with rather quickly. It's just a small language problem that can be handled in January." There should be enough members at the council meeting for a quorum, she said. Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma council members have boycotted meetings in the past to stop legislation that would be damaging to the Judicial Appeals Tribunal, the Cherokees' highest court, said Barbara Scott, who is a part-owner of a tobacco shop and also one of the six council members who boycotted the meetings.

One of the six boycotting tribal council members, Troy Wayne Poteete wrote, "Byrd appointees to the Tax Commission have fabricated an issue which seems intended to pressure the six of us to attend a council meeting. The Byrd camp is desperate to get a budget passed approving attorney bills run up which were never provided for by the previous budget. The fabricated issue concerns the interpretation of the tax law passed in 1993."
[See the People's Voice: "CNO Tax Commission Fabricated Issue".]

There are approximately 55 tobacco stores doing business on CNO land, covering 14 counties. The next Cherokee Council meeting is scheduled for January 11, 1999 in Tahlequah. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma remits a payment to the Oklahoma Tax Commission in lieu of taxes on cigarette sales on its land, as part of a 1990 agreement with the State of Oklahoma.

[See related CNO press release: For Release December 30, 1998 "Cherokee Council To Determine Destiny Of Smoke Shops Because Of Delinquent Taxes."]