The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that declared all Oklahomans must pay state income tax.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision leaves in place the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that mandated that Oklahomans of American Indian descent who live on “reservation” lands in Oklahoma must nonetheless pay state taxes just like any other resident of Oklahoma.

A lawsuit filed by Alicia Stroble argued that all American Indians living on land affected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma were exempt from paying state income tax—even if they lived on privately owned land purchased from non-Indian owners.

The McGirt decision declared the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s pre-statehood reservation—an area that includes much of Tulsa—was never formally disestablished for purposes of the federal Major Crimes Act. That decision has since been expanded to include the pre-statehood reservations of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Seminole, and Quapaw tribes, covering nearly half of Oklahoma.

Stroble’s argument received support from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation, Chickasaw Nation, and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which filed briefs in the state case.

However, the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision issued in July 2025, sided with the State of Oklahoma in Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission.

“Stroble is asking this Court to extend McGirt to civil and regulatory law—to find the State is without jurisdiction to tax the income of a tribal member living and working on the tribe’s reservation. This we cannot do,” the majority opinion issued by the Oklahoma Supreme Court stated. “The United States Supreme Court expressly limited McGirt to the narrow issue of criminal jurisdiction under the Major Crimes Act.”

At least 11,500 tribal citizens had requested an exemption from Oklahoma state income taxes since the McGirt ruling, prior to the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling.

Had the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in Stroble’s favor, all people of American Indian descent living on land covering 42 percent of Oklahoma would have potentially been exempt from paying state income tax, even though the state continues to maintain roads, schools, and public safety services in those areas that benefit tribal and non-tribal members alike.

It was estimated that a McGirt tribal exclusion could result in the loss of $75 million in state revenue each year.

In her petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the issue, Stroble declared the case “involves a critically important question of state taxing jurisdiction in Indian country” and declared the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling was “in defiance of McGirt and decades of precedent considering state taxing authority.”

Several tribes supported Stroble’s call for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

In its response, the Oklahoma Tax Commission countered, “The question whether Oklahoma has the authority to tax the income of a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation who works on tribal trust land but lives on unrestricted, non-trust, private fee land within the boundaries of the historical Creek territory is an important one, but it does not warrant this Court’s review. The Oklahoma Supreme Court correctly answered that question in the affirmative; the decision below does not implicate any conflict in lower-court authority; and there is otherwise no need for this Court’s intervention.”

The U.S. Supreme Court effectively sided with the Oklahoma Tax Commission when justices declined to take up the case.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Cherokee who has been a staunch opponent of exempting tribal citizens from state taxes, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision preserves an equal playing field for all Oklahomans.

“This is about fairness for all four million Oklahomans,” Stitt said. “Time and time again, the courts have limited the McGirt decision, rightfully upholding state jurisdiction. This decision made it clear that someone’s tax bill will not be based on their race.”

The governor’s press release also stated, “Today’s action by the U.S. Supreme Court leaves no doubt about the trajectory of the law. McGirt is a narrow decision confined to major crimes only and does not diminish Oklahoma’s broader sovereign authority. The State continues to exercise its full jurisdiction outside that limited context, and state and federal courts have consistently rejected efforts to expand McGirt beyond its bounds. The message is clear: further attempts to stretch McGirt will not succeed.”