Harley msn. If you bought a tractor in NC and picked it up there, you should have paid NC tax. Maybe the dealer had you sign a form indicating you are accepting delivery in another state or immediately taking the product out of state, but you are going to owe the tax to the state on the form. I'm not admitted in TN, but I would be willing to bet you owe them a tax if they are listed on the form.
The confusion I mentioned is that you seem to think that you don't owe sales tax in TN because you are a NY resident. I don't know of any regulation that exempts residents of other states from paying the sales tax. So even if you are still a NY resident until April, you have to deal with TN sales tax rules. I'm assuming you took the tractor directly from NC to TN and left it there.
As to the cases you cited, they deal with Native American Reservations, which are considered soveriegn nations, like Canada or Mexico. You can't compare buying a pack of cigarettes or tank of gas with a tractor.
We've beaten this to death. I'm done. This is too much like work. Lets let this fade and have the server chew on some other subjects.