Last Thursday, the IRS auctioned off 7k acres of land in South Dakota (Part of Crow Creek Indian Reservation) that the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe owned because Crow Creek Tribal Farms (A corp formed under tribal laws) owed about $3+ million in back taxes, penalties and interest for unpaid employment taxes. The buyer has not been identified but it is someone by the name of Klein in the South Dakota. An IRS spokesman stated that these 11.1 square miles were sold for about $2.57 million dollars, which is less than the Pierre Appraisal of $4.63 million.
Around the end of March, a trial will be held on the matter according to the Crow Creek’s Tribal Farm, as the tribal attorneys filed a notice of “lis pendens” which means that the sale cannot be finalized until the lawsuit is completed.Typically, Federally recognized tribes are typically not subject to taxes, and this is what the US Bureau of Indian Affairs told them. The Fort Laramie Treaty is supposed to prevent the tribe from being taxed. But for corporations affiliated with certain tribes (corp formed as separate entity from tribe), the laws are hazy. Brandon Sazue stated that tribal accounts have experienced tax levies up to the day this sale was completed. In order to get the land back they 180 days to pay 20% more than the buyer paid.
Here is another example of the IRS yet again using its might to recover back taxes. Many companies and individuals out there have foreign accounts or have unpaid taxes that is in their best interests to pay now as Federal tax revenues decline exacerbated by weakened economy and high unemployment.
