Treasury Panel Spurs Hopes of Solving Tribal Tax Problems

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Treasury Tribal Advisory Committee (TTAC) had its first meeting in June 2019 in Washington, D.C. and discussed many topics, including major federal tax issues tribes face.

Senior Public Affairs Advisor Kayla Gebeck attended the TTAC meeting and noted that "the committee broached a wide array of taxation issues for further exploration at the meeting, with the aim to address its GWE Act [2014 Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act] duties right away, but also to start educating the IRS on issues that likely need legislative answers." Ms. Gebeck said, "I think they wanted to make a statement to Treasury and the IRS that there are more tax issues than just GWE, so buckle your seat belts because here we go."

Partner Kenneth W. Parsons also commented on the importance of the TTAC's task of defining the GWE Act's terms. Mr. Parsons said, "What TTAC and tribes ultimately want is to be in a position where they're making their decisions, not having IRS or Treasury tell them what is or isn't a cultural activity."

READ: Treasury Panel Spurs Hopes of Solving Tribal Tax Problems