An employee of the department may reveal:

A. information obtained through the administration of a law not subject to administration and enforcement under the provisions of the Tax Administration Act to the extent that revealing that information is not otherwise prohibited by law;

B. return information with respect to the taxes or tax acts administered pursuant to Subsection B of Section 7-1-2 NMSA 1978, except that:

(1) return information for or relating to a period prior to July 1, 1985 with respect to the Resources Excise Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 25 NMSA 1978] and the Severance Tax Act [7-26-1 to 7-26-8 NMSA 1978] may be revealed only to a committee of the legislature for a valid legislative purpose;

(2) except as provided in Paragraph (3) of this subsection, contracts and other agreements between the taxpayer and other parties and the proprietary information contained in those contracts and agreements shall not be revealed without the consent of all parties to the contract or agreement; and

(3) audit workpapers and the proprietary information contained in the workpapers shall not be revealed except to:

(a) the bureau of safety and environmental enforcement of the United States department of the interior, if production occurred on federal land;

(b) a person having a legal interest in the property that is subject to the audit;

(c) a purchaser of products severed from a property subject to the audit; or

(d) the authorized representative of any of the persons in Subparagraphs (a) through (c) of this paragraph. This paragraph does not prohibit the revelation of proprietary information contained in the workpapers that is also available from returns or from other sources not subject to the provisions of Section 7-1-8 NMSA 1978;

C. return information with respect to the taxes, surtaxes, advance payments or tax acts administered pursuant to Subsection C of Section 7-1-2 NMSA 1978;

D. a decision and order made by a hearing officer pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Hearings Office Act [7-1B-1 to 7-1B-9 NMSA 1978] with respect to a protest filed with the secretary on or after July 1, 1993;

E. any written ruling on questions of evidence or procedure made by a hearing officer pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Hearings Office Act; provided that the name and identification number of the taxpayer requesting the ruling shall not be revealed; and

F. return information included in a notice of lien or release or extinguishment of lien.

History: 1978 Comp., § 7-1-8.3, as enacted by Laws 2009, ch. 243, § 5; 2015, ch. 73, § 12.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, authorized certain tax information resulting from administrative hearings to be revealed to the public; in Subsection B, Paragraph (1), after "respect to", deleted "Sections 7-25-1 through 7-25-9 and 7-26-1 through 7-26-8 NMSA 1978" and added "the Resources Excise Tax Act and the Severance Tax Act"; in Subsection B, Paragraph (3)(a), after "the", deleted "minerals management service" and added "bureau of safety and environment enforcement"; in Subsection D, after "pursuant to", deleted "Section 7-1-24 NMSA 1978" and added "the provisions of the Administrative Hearings Office Act"; and in Subsection E, after "pursuant to", deleted "Section 7-1-24 NMSA 1978" and added "the provisions of the Administrative Hearings Office Act".

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2015, ch. 73, § 36 provided:

A. On July 1, 2015, all personnel, functions, appropriations, money, records, furniture, equipment and other property of, or attributable to, the hearings bureau of the office of the secretary of taxation and revenue shall be transferred to the administrative hearings office.

B. On July 1, 2015, all contractual obligations of the hearings bureau of the office of the secretary of taxation and revenue shall be binding on the administrative hearings office.

C. On July 1, 2015, all references in statute to the hearings bureau of the office of the secretary of taxation and revenue or hearing officers of the taxation and revenue department in Chapters 7 and 66 NMSA 1978 shall be deemed to be references to the administrative hearings office or a hearing officer of the office.

D. Rules of the taxation and revenue department pertaining to hearing officers and the conduct of hearings pursuant to actions related to Chapter 7 or 66 NMSA 1978 shall be deemed to be the rules of the administrative hearings office until amended or repealed by the office.