Delinquent Taxes, Non-Resident State

I receive money from a native american tribe (as a member of it) in Wisconsin on average of every three months. It definitely totals more than $2,000. I live in Illinois. Always have. My problem is that last year my tax preparer looked up Wisconsin State Tax Laws and from the way he interpreted the laws, I do not owe Wisconsin any money. I've always paid them in the past and he claimed laws change from year to year. Anyway, I still owe for 1998 (I've been a student until 2000 so money has been very sparse and it seemed more important to pay rent & utilities). I owe about $600. Which seems very wrong as if I were to pay this year I'd owe about $180 and I'm receiving more money than ever. I requested the laws be sent to me concerning the 1998 tax year, but all I received was a notice saying basically 'be assured you do owe us money'. Which is not enough. Like I'm really going to trust the corrupt WI tax dept. They already made my mom pay the same bill twice and threatened her with legal action if she didn't. I of course don't want to pay them as they should be paying me. If it matters, we don't have a reservation anywhere anymore. The people that came before us kept abandoning the land they were herded to and returning to WI. Also I heard about a tribe in MI, a member took the matter to court and the state was forced to repay all members all past taxes they had paid. I'd be ecstatic if I could pull something like that in WI. Sorry for the length, thanks for any info.

The money is always put on a 1099-Misc, and I pay federal taxes on it. Which I'm okay with since I live here, even though it doesn't seem quite right. I don't see why I should pay WI state tax. Since I don't get the benefit of any WI state programs. I think the form I used in the past was WI NPR?

As a nonresident of Wisconsin you must pay tax to Wisconsin on any of your income that comes from a Wisconsin source. That is a general rule of law, applicable to all states that have income tax. The only exception to that specifically applicable to Native Americans is that certain distributions of assets or securities by the United States to members of the Menominee Indian Tribe under federal law governing Indian affairs are not subject to Wisconsin income tax (Sec. 71.05(3), Wis. Stats, so if you are receiving such distributions, they would be exempt.

Otherwise, to know if the amount they claim you owe is correct, one would have to see the actual return you filed.