A New Mexico Hearing Officer found that Gross Receipts Tax does not apply to a taxpayer’s markup for services performed outside New Mexico, but the taxpayer’s reimbursements for payroll to New Mexico employees are taxable New Mexico receipts. In Protest of Talbridge, the taxpayer was a Texas employment agency with no offices in New Mexico that was the legal employer of individuals providing services to a client in New Mexico. The client recruited and interviewed candidates and, if hired, provided the employee a list from which to select their desired payroll provider. If the employee chose the taxpayer, the taxpayer charged the client the payroll expense plus a percentage (“markup”) as compensation for its services.
The legislation modifies the corporate income tax in three ways: (1) adopts a bright-line economic nexus standard; (2) adopts market sourcing for receipts from intangibles; and (3) reduces the corporate tax rate and gradually continues to reduce the rate over the next eight years.