Tribal gas tax refund up for debate in WA Supreme Court

Marissa Brent-Tookey

Marissa Brent-Tookey Jun 28, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Tribal gas tax refund up for debate in WA Supreme Court</h1>
                <h2><p>According to Jordan Schrader of Tacoma's News Tribune, state Supreme Court justices are considering a case regarding tax refunds for tribal gas stations. Nontribal gas station owners are suing the state on the grounds that there's no oversight of the provisions on tax refunds, and that</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/marissa-brent-tookey-crosscut-com/">Marissa Brent-Tookey</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p><a href="http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/05/12/3788150/justices-consider-tribal-gas-tax.html?ref=cascadepbs.org">According to Jordan Schrader of Tacoma's News Tribune</a>, state Supreme Court justices are considering a case regarding tax refunds for tribal gas stations. Nontribal gas station owners are suing the state on the grounds that there's no oversight of the provisions on tax refunds, and that tribal stations are only indirectly taxed. The agreement between the state and the tribal gas stations is meant to keep tribes from becoming fuel suppliers and therefore tax-exempt, and refunds are supposed to be spent on public safety and transportation. Phil Talmadge, attorney for the nontribal gas stations, claims there's little to no accountability, however, and that audit findings are overly vague or unavailable.</p>
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According to Jordan Schrader of Tacoma's News Tribune, state Supreme Court justices are considering a case regarding tax refunds for tribal gas stations. Nontribal gas station owners are suing the state on the grounds that there's no oversight of the provisions on tax refunds, and that tribal stations are only indirectly taxed. The agreement between the state and the tribal gas stations is meant to keep tribes from becoming fuel suppliers and therefore tax-exempt, and refunds are supposed to be spent on public safety and transportation. Phil Talmadge, attorney for the nontribal gas stations, claims there's little to no accountability, however, and that audit findings are overly vague or unavailable.

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By Marissa Brent-Tookey

Marissa Brent-Tookey is an editorial intern at Crosscut. She holds a B.A. in French from Seattle University and now studies film production at Shoreline Community College. In addition to crewing a doz