Cigarette company asks US Supreme Court to review tax case

YAKIMA, Wash. — A cigarette manufacturer on the Yakama Nation Indian Reservation in Washington state has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review if the company is exempt from federal excise taxes.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported Thursday that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that King Mountain Tobacco was on hook for $58 million in unpaid taxes.

The tobacco company claims the Yakama Treaty of 1855 protects it from the federal taxes.

The company is privately owned and operates on tribal land in White Swan.

The U.S. solicitor general has recommended against the court taking up the case, arguing the treaty doesn't shield the company.