Argument of Justice Stevens
Mr. Stevens: The second case, Department of Taxation and Finance of New York against Milhelm Attea & Brothers Et. Al. comes to us form the Court of Appeals of the State of New York.
It involves the validity of a regulatory scheme adapted by New York for the purpose of preventing the evasion of taxes imposed on the sale of cigarets.
Members of Indian tribes who purchase cigarets on Indian reservations are exempt from the tax but non-Indians making purchases on the reservations are required to pay it.
The New York scheme imposes recordkeeping requirements and quotas on the wholesalers who sell untaxed cigarets to reservation Indians.
The legal question is whether that program is in conflict with federal statutes that govern trade with the Indians.
The Court of Appeals held the program invalid but for reasons there stated in the opinion filed with the Clerk, we come to a contrary conclusion and therefore, reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
