Mark Shahinian (J.D. 2009, Michigan) has published The Tax Man Cometh Not: How the Non-transferability of Tax Credits Harms Indian Tribes, 32 Am. Indian L. Rev. 267 (2008).  Here is the abstract:

It is commonly thought that Indian tribes enjoy a significant business advantage because they are tax-free entities. This is often true — an entity that does not pay 35% of its earnings to the government is generally better off than one that does. However, in certain industries, the tax credits available are so great that not paying taxes hurts the tribes in a side-by-side business comparison to taxable entities, such as corporations. This paper will argue that tribes should be given the opportunity to transfer to tax-paying partners the tax credits they would have earned from certain projects but for their tax-free status. Making tax credits tradable for tribes will accomplish three important goals: (1) The federal government will be able to better promote targeted economic activities by giving tribes the same financial incentives as the rest of the business community; (2) Tribal dependence on federal grants will be reduced, as larger pools of investment capital become available to tribes and tribal wealth increases; (3) As dependence is reduced, tribal sovereignty will increase. This paper will examine the issue of tax credit tradability through the lens of wind energy projects, which normally receive large tax credits, but which are structurally very difficult for tribes — as non-tax-paying entities — to develop.

This paper won the $1,000 first place award in the 2006-07 American Indian Law Review Writing Competition.