An enrolled member of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, who lived on the reservation of another federally recognized tribe (the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians), was taxable on her per capital payments from gaming operations conducted on her tribe’s reservation. (Angelina Mike v. Franchise Tax Board (March 5, 2010) Cal. Ct. App. Dkt. No. D054439)

The McClanahan exemption provides that a state may not impose an income tax on tribal members whose income is derived from their own tribe’s lands and who reside on their own tribe’s land. (McClanahan v. State Tax commission of Arizona (1973) 411 U.S. 164) The court agreed with the FTB that the McClanahan exemption does not apply when a taxpayer resides on the land of a tribe in which the taxpayer is not a member.

The court also held that the tax was not discriminatory because the tribe’s reservation lands of the taxpayer were small, compared to other tribes, and had limited housing.

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