Are Native Americans required to pay Federal income taxes?

For most purposes, Native Americans are subject to the same income tax treatment as any other citizens and compute gross income in the same manner. There’s no statutory provision exempting Native Americans from income taxation, and there’s no Constitutional restriction to subjecting their income to federal taxation.

What if their income is exclusively from operations on Indian lands?

“And there’s no Constitutional restriction to subjecting their income to federal taxation.”

There is no Constitutional basis for Federal income tax as we know it today.

@SecondHandStoke doesn’t the sixteenth amendment cover that?

In NY, cigarettes sold on Indian “reservations” are not subject to state tax which is about $5.00 per pack. Smokers make “Runs to the Rez” to buy their cancer sticks in bulk.

@stanleybmanly Any statement about tax law should include “for most purposes,” or “generally,” or “in general,” because there are exceptions to every rule.

Income directly derived from allotted lands and water gets a general (there’s that word again!) exclusion from gross income. The word “directly” is key. Income from farming, grazing, fishing, and mineral exploitation – activities closely connected to the actual land – has a general (arghh!) exclusion from taxation. The intent is to maintain the unencumbered, full value of the land for use by and benefit of Native Americans. Rental income from buildings constructed on the same land isn’t excluded, however, because it’s derived from a structure rather than the land itself.

@LuckyGuy, you raise a very interesting point, although you’re describing an excise tax rather than an income tax.

Circumstances may vary according to if any particular Native American lives on a reservation or not.

Yes, there is no specific deduction for being a Native American. There are some specific exclusions from various taxes based on limited circumstances, but otherwise we pay the same taxes as everyone else.