US Supreme Court to review Yakama gas tax exemption case

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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether Yakama tribal members are exempt from Washington state gas taxes on the reservation.

The U.S. Solicitor General recommended last month for the country’s highest court to take up the case, which stems from a state Department of Licensing lawsuit in 2013 against a gas station and convenience store in White Swan. The state claimed the store owned by a tribal member brought out-of-state fuel onto the reservation without paying the state’s fuel tax.

Yakima County Superior Court and the state Supreme Court ruled the Yakama Treaty of 1855 exempted tribal-owned gas stations on the reservation from the tax.

The licensing department appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. (AP)

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