139.323 Refunds to Indian tribes. The department shall refund 70 percent of the taxes collected under s. 139.31 (1) in respect to sales on reservations or trust lands of an Indian tribe to the tribal council of the tribe having jurisdiction over the reservation or trust land on which the sale is made if all the following conditions are fulfilled:
(1) The tribal council has filed a claim for the refund with the department.
(2) The tribal council has approved the retailer.
(3) The land on which the sale occurred was designated a reservation or trust land on or before January 1, 1983, or on a later date as determined by an agreement between the department and the tribal council.
(4) The cigarettes were not delivered by the retailer to the buyer by means of a common carrier, a contract carrier or the U.S. postal service.
(5) The retailer has not sold the cigarettes to another retailer or to a jobber.
History: 1983 a. 27; 1985 a. 29, 302; 2009 a. 28.
The phrase “was designated a reservation or trust land" in sub. (3) is necessarily read as referring to the applicable formal process that must occur in order for land to be a reservation or trust land. Because the proper authorities had not completed the necessary steps for the property in question to be designated a reservation or trust land on or before January 1, 1983, and because that is required in order to qualify for the tax refund, a claim for refund was properly denied. Ho-Chunk Nation v. DOR, 2009 WI 48, 317 Wis. 2d 553, 766 N.W.2d 738, 07-1985.