IRS Adds Tribes to List Describing Tax Treatment of Per Capita Payments From Tribal Trust Cases

ADDITIONAL SETTLEMENTS

Notice 2012-60, 2012-41 I.R.B. 455, provides guidance on federal tax treatment of certain per capita payments made to members of Indian tribes. Since publication of Notice 2012-60, six additional tribes -- Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Alaska, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians, Hoopa Valley Tribe, the Ak-Chin Indian Community, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe -- have reached tribal trust case settlements with the United States and have been included in the Appendix.

PURPOSE

This notice provides guidance concerning the federal income tax treatment of per capita payments that members of Indian tribes receive from proceeds of certain settlements of tribal trust cases between the United States and those Indian tribes.

BACKGROUND

The United States has entered into settlement agreements with the federally recognized Indian tribes listed in the Appendix to this notice, settling litigation in which the tribes allege that the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Treasury mismanaged monetary assets and natural resources the United States holds in trust for the benefit of the tribes ("Tribal Trust cases"). Upon receiving the settlement proceeds, the tribes will dismiss their claims with prejudice. See Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Salazar Announce $1 Billion Settlement of Tribal Trust Accounting and Management Lawsuits Filed by More Than 40 Tribes (April 11, 2012) at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/April/12-ag-460.html. The United States foresees the possibility of future substantially similar settlements of substantially similar claims brought by other federally recognized Indian tribes.

Most of the Indian tribes that have reached Tribal Trust case settlements with the United States have directed that the settlement proceeds be transferred to accounts at private banks or other third-party institutions, where the proceeds will be invested until the tribes use the funds for various purposes, which may include making per capita payments to their members. Other Indian tribes have directed that all or part of the settlement proceeds be paid into a trust account established or maintained by the Secretary of the Interior, through the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, for the benefit of the tribes, until the tribes provide instructions for the disposition of the funds, which may include making per capita payments to their members.

Although agreeing to settlements, the United States admits no liability in the Tribal Trust case settlements and the government has no fiduciary responsibilities over the Tribal Trust case settlement proceeds that the tribes receive and that are deposited into accounts at private banks or other third-party institutions.

CONSULTATION

Several tribes and other affiliated organizations requested direct consultation on the income tax treatment of per capita payments from the Tribal Trust case settlements. In response to these requests and in the spirit of Executive Order 13175, direct consultation and communication occurred. These consultations and conversations were extremely useful in preparing this notice.

APPLICABLE PROVISIONS OF LAW

Section 61(a) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that, except as otherwise provided by law, gross income means all income from whatever source derived. Under § 61, Congress intends to tax all gains and undeniable accessions to wealth, clearly realized, over which taxpayers have complete dominion. Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co., 348 U.S. 426 (1955), 1955-1 C.B. 207. Indians are citizens subject to the payment of income taxes. Squire v. Capoeman, 351 U.S. 1, 6 (1956), 1956-1 C.B. 605.

The Per Capita Act, Pub. L. No. 98-64, 97 Stat. 365, 25 U.S.C. §§ 117a through 117c, provides authority to Indian tribes to make per capita payments to Indians out of tribal trust revenue. Under 25 U.S.C. § 117a, funds held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for an Indian tribe that are to be distributed per capita to members of that tribe may be distributed by either the Secretary of the Interior or, at the request of the governing body of the tribe and subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, the tribe.

The Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or Distribution Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1401 through 1408, concerns the distribution of certain judgment funds to Indian tribes. Under 25 U.S.C. § 117b(a), funds distributed under 25 U.S.C. § 117a are subject to the provisions of 25 U.S.C. § 1407. Under 25 U.S.C. § 1407, the funds described in that section, and all interest and investment income accrued on the funds while held in trust, are not subject to federal income taxes. See also H.R. Rep. No. 98-230 at 3 (1983), which provides that per capita distributions of tribal trust revenue "shall be subject to the provisions of [25 U.S.C. § 1407] with respect to tax exemptions."

To determine the federal income tax treatment of per capita payments from Tribal Trust case settlement proceeds, "the test is not whether the action was one in tort or contract, but rather the question to be asked is 'In lieu of what were the damages awarded?'" See Raytheon Production Corp. v. Commissioner, 144 F.2d 110, 113 (1^st Cir. 1944), aff'g 1 T.C. 952 (1943). The fact that a suit ends in a compromise settlement does not change the nature of the recovery; the determining factor is the nature of the underlying claim. Raytheon Production Corp. at 114. Therefore, although the United States admits no liability in the Tribal Trust cases, Raytheon Production Corp. requires an examination of the underlying claims asserted by the tribes. The Tribal Trust case settlements described in this notice resolve claims, in relevant part, that the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Treasury mismanaged trust accounts, lands, and natural resources. The tribes assert that, absent this mismanagement of their trust funds and resources, their government-administered trust fund accounts would have substantially larger balances. See 25 C.F.R. §§ 115.002 and 115.702 (which define the trust fund accounts maintained and held by the Secretary of the Interior for federally recognized tribes and the types of payments that must be accepted into the trust account, which include those resulting from use of trust lands or restricted fee lands or trust resources when paid directly to the Secretary of the Interior on behalf of the tribal account holder). The settlement proceeds from the Tribal Trust cases must be viewed as being in lieu of amounts that would have been held in a trust fund account for the tribe that is maintained by the Secretary of the Interior. Consequently, for federal income tax purposes, per capita payments that an Indian tribe makes from the tribe's Tribal Trust case settlement proceeds are treated the same as per capita payments from funds held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior under 25 U.S.C. § 117a. See Raytheon Production Corp. at 113-114; see also 25 U.S.C. § 1407 and H.R. Rep. No. 98-230 at 3 (1983).

FEDERAL INCOME TAX TREATMENT

Under 25 U.S.C. § 117b(a), per capita payments made from the proceeds of an agreement between the United States and an Indian tribe settling the tribe's claims that the United States mismanaged monetary assets and natural resources held in trust for the benefit of the tribe by the Secretary of the Interior are excluded from the gross income of the members of the tribe receiving the per capita payments. Per capita payments that exceed the amount of the Tribal Trust case settlement proceeds and that are made from an Indian tribe's private bank account in which the tribe has deposited the settlement proceeds are included in the gross income of the members of the tribe receiving the per capita payments under § 61. For example, if an Indian tribe receives proceeds under a settlement agreement, invests the proceeds in a private bank account that earns interest, and subsequently distributes the entire amount of the bank account as per capita payments, then a member of the tribe excludes from gross income that portion of the member's per capita payment attributable to the settlement proceeds and must include the remaining portion of the per capita payment in gross income.

LIMITATION

This notice applies only to per capita payments from proceeds of the Tribal Trust case settlements that are described in this notice and that the United States has entered into with the Indian tribes listed in the Appendix to this notice or to proceeds of Tribal Trust case settlements that are subsequently identified as being subject to this notice on the Indian Tribal Governments page on the Internal Revenue Service website, www.irs.gov. The federal income tax treatment of other per capita payments made by the Secretary of the Interior or Indian tribes to members of Indian tribes is outside the scope of this notice and may be addressed in future guidance.

EFFECT ON OTHER DOCUMENTS

Notice 2012-60, 2012-41 I.R.B. 445, is superseded.

DRAFTING INFORMATION

The principal author of this notice is Sheldon Iskow of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax & Accounting). For further information, please contact Mr. Iskow at (202) 622-4920 (not a toll-free call).