By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – A state supreme court judge has ruled against the Seneca Nation of Indians allowing the state to collect taxes on cigarettes sold by to non-native Americans.
Judge Donna Siwek issued her ruling Wednesday afternoon denying the Seneca's motion against the state. The judge ruled that the Department of Taxation and Finance was in compliance with the State Administrative Procedure Act.
The ruling also throws out the Seneca's request for an injunction. A restraining order issued last month has been lifted. That means the state is no longer prevented from collecting the taxes.
Seneca president Robert Odawi Porter issued the following statement in response to the ruling:
"This ruling was not a surprise. In anticipation, the Nation will be immediately filing papers with the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court to stay the decision and eventually see it overturned. However, if New York State courts eventually allow this New York State law to stand, it will have two primary results. One, good-paying retail jobs, selling a legal product in Western New York, will be lost; and, two, there will be no change in the Seneca Nation's stand that it will never collect or impose sales taxes for New York State. If the Nation's businesses need to shift their product mix to render such onerous tax laws moot, they will." "No one should underestimate the Nation's resolve to defend and protect its sovereign rights. Immunity from taxes by federal treaty is the law of the land. Our people survived state encroachment before and triumphed for centuries as an independent and successful people. That will not change now."