Many tribes conduct their commercial activities through federally-chartered corporations formed under Section 17 of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). To form a Section 17 Corporation, a tribe must petition the Secretary of the Interior for issuance of a corporate charter. A Section 17 corporation provides a framework by which a tribe can segregate tribal business assets and liabilities from the assets and liability of tribal governmental assets. It also preserves the integrity of the decision-making process of tribal governmental officials by separating business decisions. The charter defines the powers of the corporation which can include the power to buy and sell real and personal property and to conduct such further powers as may be incidental to the conduct of corporate business. Several courts have held that tribal sovereign immunity applies to the business activities conducted by a Section 17 Corporation; other courts have found a waiver of sovereign immunity in the "sue and be sued" clause of the corporate charter. Tribal corporations formed under Section 17 of the IRA have the same tax status as the tribe and are not subject to federal income taxes for income derived from on or off reservation activities.