State Excise, Sales and Transaction Tax Enforcement Act of 1998

Summary: State, Excise, Sales, and Transaction Tax Enforcement Act of 1998 - Amends the Federal judicial code to require the owners and operators of tribal retail enterprises to collect and remit qualified State taxes.  Allows a State to bring an action in a district court: (1) for a declaratory judgment concerning the applicability or lawfulness of such a tax; or (2) against a tribal retail enterprise or the Indian tribe or a tribal member that owns or operates the enterprise to enforce the collection or remittance of such a tax. 
Defines a "qualified State tax" as any lawfully imposed, nondiscriminatory excise, sales, or transaction tax imposed by a State on a purchase of a good or service from a tribal retail enterprise by a person who is not a member of that Indian tribe, excluding any State tax:  (1) imposed on a purchase from an enterprise that is exempted under State law from collecting and remitting because the associated Indian tribe imposes and collects an equivalent tax; (2) imposed on a sale if the State has waived the applicability of that tax to a purchase from the enterprise by a person who is not a member of the associated tribe; (3) that is the subject of an agreement between an enterprise and a State that exempts that enterprise from collecting and remitting that tax; or (4) the incidence of which falls on an Indian tribe or a member of an Indian tribe.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``State Excise, Sales, and Transaction 
Tax Enforcement Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) a long line of decisions of the United States Supreme 
        Court has established that States have the right to collect 
        lawfully imposed nondiscriminatory State excise, sales, and 
        transaction taxes on the purchase of a good or service from an 
        Indian tribe (including a tribal government or tribal 
        corporation) by a person who is not a member of that Indian 
        tribe;
            (2) the collection of the taxes referred to in paragraph 
        (1) has been impeded by the assertion of tribal immunity by 
        Indian tribes (including tribal governments and corporations) 
        and members of an Indian tribe as a defense in an action in a 
        Federal court that is necessary to enforce the collection of 
        the State taxes that apply to the sales referred to in 
        paragraph (1); and
            (3) the failure of an Indian tribe (including a tribal 
        government or tribal corporation) or a member of an Indian 
        tribe to act as an agent of a State to collect a State tax 
        referred to in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) unlawfully deprives that State of essential tax 
                revenues needed for infrastructure improvement and 
                ensuring the health and welfare of all of the citizens 
                of that State; and
                    (B) creates a disadvantage for law-abiding 
                businesses that are not associated with the Indian 
                tribe and that fulfill their obligation to act as an 
                agent of the State, and, as a result of that 
                disadvantage, some of those businesses may be forced 
                out of business.

SEC. 3. COLLECTION OF STATE TAXES.

    Section 1362 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``The 
        district courts'';
            (2) by inserting ``(referred to in this section as an 
        `Indian tribe')'' after ``Interior''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Collection of Qualified State Taxes by Indian Tribes.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Good or service.--The term `good or service' 
                includes any tobacco product or motor fuel (within the 
                meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).
                    ``(B) Qualified state tax.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `qualified 
                        State tax' means any lawfully imposed, 
                        nondiscriminatory excise, sales, or transaction 
                        tax imposed by a State on a purchase of a good 
                        or service from a tribal retail enterprise by a 
                        person who is not a member of that Indian 
                        tribe.
                            ``(ii) Exceptions.--The term does not 
                        include any State tax--
                                    ``(I) imposed on the sale of a good 
                                or service by a tribal retail 
                                enterprise to a person who is not a 
                                member of an Indian tribe with respect 
                                to which, as of the date of enactment 
                                of the State Excise, Sales, and 
                                Transaction Tax Enforcement Act of 
                                1998, the tribal retail enterprise is 
                                exempted under the law of that State 
                                from collecting and remitting because 
                                the Indian tribe associated with that 
                                tribal retail enterprise imposes and 
                                collects an equivalent tax on such sale 
                                in an amount equal to the tax that 
                                would otherwise be imposed by the 
                                State;
                                    ``(II) imposed on the sales of a 
                                tribal retail enterprise if, as of the 
                                date of enactment of the State Excise, 
                                Sales, and Transaction Tax Enforcement 
                                Act of 1998, the State has waived the 
                                applicability of that tax to the 
                                purchase of a good or service from that 
                                tribal retail enterprise by a person 
who is not a member of the Indian tribe of the owner or operator of 
that tribal retail enterprise;
                                    ``(III) that is the subject, as of 
                                the date of enactment of the State 
                                Excise, Sales, and Transaction Tax 
                                Enforcement Act of 1998, of an 
                                agreement between a tribal retail 
                                enterprise and a State that exempts 
                                that tribal retail enterprise from 
                                collecting and remitting that tax; or
                                    ``(IV) with respect to which the 
                                incidence of the tax falls on an Indian 
                                tribe (including a tribal government or 
                                tribal corporation) or member of an 
                                Indian tribe.
                    ``(C) Tribal immunity.--The term `tribal immunity' 
                means the immunity of an Indian tribe (including a 
                tribal government or tribal corporation) from 
                jurisdiction of the Federal courts, judicial review of 
                an action of that Indian tribe, and other remedies.
                    ``(D) Tribal retail enterprise.--The term `tribal 
                retail enterprise' includes any entity that--
                            ``(i) is owned or operated by an Indian 
                        tribe (including a tribal government or tribal 
                        corporation) or member of an Indian tribe; and
                            ``(ii) engages in the business of the 
                        wholesale or retail sales of a good or service.
            ``(2) Collection of qualified state taxes.--Subject to 
        paragraph (3), the owner or operator of a tribal retail 
        enterprise shall collect and remit such qualified State taxes 
        as the owner or operator of the tribal retail enterprise is 
        required to collect and remit.
            ``(3) Conflict resolution.--
                    ``(A) Declaratory judgments.--A State may bring an 
                action for a declaratory judgment under section 2201 of 
                this title in a district court of appropriate 
                jurisdiction concerning the applicability or lawfulness 
                of a qualified State tax referred to in paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Actions.--A State may bring an action against 
                a tribal retail enterprise, or the Indian tribe 
                (including a tribal government or tribal corporation) 
                or member of an Indian tribe that owns or operates the 
                tribal retail enterprise in a district court of 
                appropriate jurisdiction to enforce the collection or 
                remittance of a qualified State tax under paragraph 
                (2).
                    ``(C) Waiver of tribal immunity.--In an action 
                referred to in subparagraph (A) or (B), to the extent 
                necessary to obtain a judgment in that action, the 
                tribal immunity of the Indian tribe (including a tribal 
                government or tribal corporation) or member of the 
                Indian tribe is waived.''.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by section 3 shall apply to sales of goods or 
services referred to in section 1362(b) of title 28, United States 
Code, as added by section 3, that are made after the date of enactment 
of this Act.