[2] The Chickasaw Nation operated several business, and used a pull-tab, similar to a scratch-off lottery ticket, to generate revenue for the tribe.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) advised the tribe that the tribe owed excise taxes and federal occupational taxes on revenue generated from the sales of these pull-tabs to the public.

[3] The court granted the government's motion for summary judgment and the tribe appealed.

[5] Additionally, the Choctaw Nation used the same pull-tab system and also filed suit in Federal District Court,[6] with the same results as the Chickasaw tribe, and at the Tenth Circuit.

The Court held that this was not the case, despite information in the record of the acts authors that stated that the "tax treatment of wagers conducted by tribal governments be the same as that for wagers conducted by state governments..."[2] The court held that the tribes were liable for the taxes.