Since 2005, the IRS has been trying to get the Miccosukee
600-member tribe to turn over financial paperwork. According to the IRS, the
tribe hasn’t been reporting its gambling profits, which is required even though
they are a sovereign nation. Because the tribe disperses the profits from the
casino they own to its members, each individual is required to report their
income and pay taxes. In 2005, the tribe’s lawyers argued that they didn’t owe
money to the IRS and used their sovereign status as a defense.

Some of the members of the Miccosukee tribe receive between
$120,000 and $160,000 annually from gambling profits. Earlier in 2012, the
tribe admitted that 100 of its tribe members owe around $25.8 million in back
taxes, plus interest, based on the income that was received from a gaming
operation between 2000 and 2005. Miami U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold
continuously ruled in favor of the IRS and denied the tribe’s attempt to block
the IRS’ summons for their tribal members’ bank account statements for 2010.

Most recently, a three judge panel rejected the Miccosukee
sovereign immunity argument that the IRS didn’t have a legal right to obtain
such records, which were being held by Citibank, American Express, Wachovia
Bank and Morgan Stanley. The tribe also stated that the summonses for their
financial documents was for an improper purpose and were overbroad. The panel
then agreed that Indian tribes weren’t able to rely on tribal immunity to bar
legal actions by a superior sovereign, a.k.a. the U.S. government.



This isn’t the first case that the Miccosukee tribe has
tried and failed. They are known for having a variety of legal battles
throughout the years for everything from income taxes to cleaning up the Everglades.

It is very likely that this case will end in a settlement of tens of millions of dollars.