New Mexico in top tier for tax administration

The Council on State Taxation has New Mexico among its “2023 Top Ranked States” for fair, efficient tax administration and its tax appeal process.

Among the top-six ranked states, the council gave New Mexico a grade of A- along with Arizona and Virginia. Illinois, Indiana and Montana each received an A.

The council describes its mission as “to preserve and promote equitable and nondiscriminatory taxation of multijurisdictional business entities.”

“The findings in this report are very gratifying. We have worked hard in recent years to ensure that our tax code provides for even-handed treatment and that our administration offers the kind of consistency and clarity that makes voluntary compliance easier,” Taxation and Revenue Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke said.

For its 2023 report, released on Dec. 29, the council considered whether states had an independent appeals process with judges who had expertise in tax law, whether it provided a hearing of record and whether it made its tax guidance and rulings public. It also considered statutes of limitations on assessments and refunds, interest rates, how a state treats withholding for non-resident workers on temporary assignments and a variety of other factors.