Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Sac and Fox Nation
Decided May 17, 1993. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 92-259 · 508 U.S. 114 (1993) · Cited 149 times
Holding
Absent explicit congressional direction to the contrary, it must be presumed that a State does not have jurisdiction to tax tribal members who live and work in Indian country, whether the particular territory consists of a formal or informal reservation, allotted lands, or dependent Indian communities.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 9
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission · 411 U.S. 164 (1973)
- Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation · 425 U.S. 463 (1976)
- Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation · 447 U.S. 134 (1980)
- Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band of Potawatomi Tribe of Okla. · 498 U.S. 505 (1991)
- Williams v. Lee · 358 U.S. 217 (1959)
- White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker · 448 U.S. 136 (1980)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Chickasaw Nation · 515 U.S. 450 (1995)
- District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne · 557 U.S. 52 (2009)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).