[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2675 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2675

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat Indian tribes the 
   same as State governments for purposes of chapter 35 of such Code.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2003

  Mr. Crane introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat Indian tribes the 
   same as State governments for purposes of chapter 35 of such Code.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Government Tax Fairness Act 
of 2003''.

SEC. 2. DECLARATIONS AND AFFIRMATIONS.

    The Congress declares and affirms that:
            (1) The United States Constitution, U.S. Federal Court 
        decisions, and U.S. Statutes recognize that Indian tribes are 
        governments, retaining sovereign authority over their lands.
            (2) Through treaties, statutes, and executive orders, the 
        United States set aside Indian reservations to be used as 
        ``permanent homes'' for Indian Tribes.
            (3) As governments, Indian Tribes have the responsibility 
        and authority to provide governmental services, develop Tribal 
        economies, and build community infrastructure to ensure that 
        Indian reservation lands serve as livable ``permanent homes''.
            (4) Congress is vested with the authority to regulate 
        commerce with Indian Tribes, and hereby exercises that 
        authority and affirms the United States government-to-
        government relationship with Indian Tribes.
            (5) In enacting the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (Public 
        Law 100-497), Congress intended to treat Indian Tribes as State 
        governments for purposes of chapter 35 of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF INDIAN TRIBES AS GOVERNMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 7871 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to Indian tribal governments treated as 
States for certain purposes) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end 
of paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (7) 
and inserting ``; and'', and by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(8) chapter 35 (relating to taxes on wagering).''
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to wagers received after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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