Majority J. Marshall | End date 1973 | |
Citations 411 U.S. 164 (more)93 S. Ct. 1257; 36 L. Ed. 2d 129 Prior history McClanahan v. State Tax Commission, 484 P.2d 221 (Ariz. App. Div. 1 1971). Similar Menominee Tribe v United St, Talton v Mayes, Ex parte Crow Dog | ||
McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U.S. 164 (1973), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States holding that Arizona has no jurisdiction to impose a tax on the income of Navajo Indians residing on the Navajo Reservation and whose income is wholly derived from reservation sources.
Contents
Background
Rosalind McClanahan was an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. In 1967, all of her income came from work on the Navajo Reservation, and for which $16.20 was withheld from her wages. She requested a refund of the entire amount and protested the collection of state taxes. When the state declined her claim, she filed an action in the Arizona Superior Court. The court dismissed her case for failure to state a claim and McClanahan appealed. The Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed. The Arizona Supreme Court declined to hear the case, and the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear the case.
Opinion of the Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of a unanimous court. Marshall found that there was nothing in federal law that authorized Arizona to collect a state income tax from an Indian that earned the income on the reservation. The case was reversed.