The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians continues to fight the state of California over taxes on gaming-related income
The tribe distributes revenues from the Spotlight 29 Casino to its members under a federally-approved revenue allocation plan. Some members also work at the casino. The tribe says California is violating the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act by imposing a tax on gaming-related income. But a federal judge apparently ruled that the state can collect state income tax from tribal members who don't live on the reservation, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. The tribe is now preparing to take the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the paper said. Briefs are due in January 2011. In a separate case, a California Court of Appeals ruled that a member of the tribe must pay state income taxes on her tribe's per capita payments because she lived on another reservation. Get the Story: