Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation

Background

The dispute is between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (the Tribe) on the Flathead Reservation and the State of Montana. The reservation contains trust and fee lands where Indians and non‑Indians live and work together. A tribal member operated retail “smoke shops” on trust land and was arrested for selling unstamped cigarettes and lacking a retailer’s license. The Tribe sued to block Montana’s cigarette tax rules and later challenged the State’s personal property tax on motor vehicles owned by reservation Indians.

Reasoning

The Court first resolved whether the federal district court could hear the case despite a statute that normally bars federal courts from stopping state tax collection. Reading a separate law that gives tribes access to federal courts, and its legislative history, the Court held the Tribe was not barred from suing in federal court. On the merits the Court applied earlier decisions about reservation tax immunity and concluded Montana’s cigarette tax as applied to on‑reservation sales to Indians and the personal property tax on reservation vehicles conflicted with federal law and could not be imposed. The Court rejected the State’s reliance on an old allotment statute and held that a minimal administrative burden — requiring tribal sellers to collect taxes from non‑Indian purchasers — was acceptable because the statute treats the tax as owed by the consumer.

Real world impact

The judgment prevents Montana from enforcing these taxes against tribal members selling to Indians on the reservation and blocks the vehicle tax on reservation Indians. The State, however, may require tribal retailers to collect taxes from non‑Indian buyers to aid enforcement. The Court affirmed the District Court’s judgments and left some enforcement and refund details to lower courts.