WAREHOUSE MARKET v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMM.

2021 OK 6, 481 P.3d 250
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 2, 2021
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2021 OK 6 (WAREHOUSE MARKET v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMM.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
WAREHOUSE MARKET v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMM., 2021 OK 6, 481 P.3d 250 (Okla. 2021).

Opinion

WAREHOUSE MARKET v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMM.
Skip to Main Content Accessibility Statement
OSCN Found Document:WAREHOUSE MARKET v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMM.
  1. Previous Case
  2. Top Of Index
  3. This Point in Index
  4. Citationize
  5. Next Case
  6. Print Only

WAREHOUSE MARKET v. STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMM.
2021 OK 6
481 P.3d 250
Case Number: 118504
Decided: 02/02/2021
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA


Cite as: 2021 OK 6, 481 P.3d 250

WAREHOUSE MARKET INC., Plaintiff/Appellee,
v.
STATE OF OKLAHOMA, ex rel. OKLAHOMA TAX COMMISSION, Defendant/Appellant,
and
MUSCOGEE (CREEK) NATION, ex rel. OFFICE OF THE TAX COMMISSION, and PINNACLE MANAGEMENT & CONSULTING, LLC., Defendants.

APPEAL FROM THE OKMULGEE COUNTY DISTRICT COURT

Honorable Kenneth Adair, Trial Judge

¶0 The plaintiff/appellee, Warehouse Market subleased a commercial building from the defendant Pinnacle Management, Inc. The building is on federally restricted Indian land. Subsequently, the defendant/appellant, Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Office of Tax Commission (Tribe) both sought to collect sales tax from Warehouse Market. Warehouse Market filed an interpleader action in the District Court of Okmulgee County, in an attempt to have the court determine which entity to pay. However, the trial court dismissed the Tribe because it had no jurisdiction over it because of the Tribe's sovereign immunity. The trial court then determined that the OTC could not be entitled to the sales tax unless and until the dispute between the OTC and the Tribe was resolved in another forum or tribunal. The OTC appealed and we retained the appeal. We hold that because the substance of Warehouse Market's action/request for relief is a tax protest, exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to seeking relief in the trial court.

MOTION TO RETAIN PREVIOUSLY GRANTED;
TRIAL COURT REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

James H. Ferris, Randy J. Lewin, Scott V. Morgan, Tulsa, Oklahoma. for Plaintiff/Appellee, Warehouse Market, Inc.

Randall J. Yates, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Assistant Solicitor General, Oklahoma Attorney General for Defendant/Appellant, Oklahoma Tax Commission.

KAUGER, J.:

¶1 The dispositive question presented is whether the trial court can address plaintiff's action/request for relief from OTC taxation? We hold that because the substance of the plaintiff's action/request for relief is a tax protest, exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to seeking relief in the trial court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 Two tribal members of the federally recognized tribe, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation (the Tribe), own real property within the jurisdiction of the tribe, within the town of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. A shopping center is located on the property. The property is "restricted Indian land," which Federal regulations define as land in which the title "is held by an individual Indian, subject to Federal restrictions against alienation or encumbrance."1

¶3 The landowners leased the property on February 5, 2018, to Pinnacle Management & Consulting, Inc. (Pinnacle) for a period of twenty-five years with an option to renew one (1) twenty-five year period. The lease is titled as the "United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Business Lease" (BIA Lease) and the purpose of the lease is for Pinnacle to manage the shopping center. The Superintendent of the Okmulgee Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approved the lease on February 13, 2018.2 The lease requires new businesses to obtain licensing and pay appropriate sales tax to the Tribe.3

¶4 On October 1, 2018, Pinnacle entered into a Sublease with Warehouse Market, Inc., D/B/A Cox Cash Saver Cost Plus 10% (Warehouse Market). The initial term of the Sublease was for sixteen months, with four additional, optional sixty month terms. The tax provision of the Sublease required the sublessor to pay all attributable real property and assessments to the property.4 The Sublease also required it to be governed by tribal law.5 The Sublease was not approved by the BIA.6

¶5 The record is silent as to whether or how long Warehouse Market may have occupied the premises before it entered into this particular Sublease with Pinnacle. Nevertheless, the Tribe sent a letter to Pinnacle dated September 6, 2018, which stated that effective October 1, 2018, pursuant to the BIA Lease, any retail sales located on the property would be required to pay 6% sales tax to the Tribe. The letter also states that "[t]here is no obligation to pay taxes to any city, county, or state agencies as the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tax Commission is the only authorized taxation agency allowed to assess or collect taxes on restricted land." Subsequently, Pinnacle passed the information on to Warehouse Market.

¶6 Warehouse Market "had been collecting and remitting" 10.083% sales tax levied by the State of Oklahoma on taxable items at the store. However, for the month of October 2018, as requested by the Tribe, Warehouse Market sent the 6% which the Tribe assessed as sales tax to the Tribe. Warehouse Market also advised the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) that the October 2018 payment would be the last sales tax payment to the State of Oklahoma.7 The OTC responded with a letter dated November 21, 2018, which stated that the full amount of the October taxes were due to the OTC and that future taxes would also be due.

¶7 With the prospect of losing its licensing and permits if it did not remit sales tax to both State and Tribal taxing entities, Warehouse Market filed an action in the District Court of Okmulgee County on December 21, 2018.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. BETHEA
2024 OK 33 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2024)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2021 OK 6, 481 P.3d 250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warehouse-market-v-state-ex-rel-oklahoma-tax-comm-okla-2021.