Any person in New Mexico using property on the value of which compensating tax is payable but has not been paid is liable to the state for payment of the compensating tax, but this liability is discharged if the buyer has paid the compensating tax to the seller for payment over to the department.

History: 1953 Comp., § 72-16A-9, enacted by Laws 1966, ch. 47, § 9; 1983, ch. 220, § 2; 1990, ch. 41, § 1.

The 1990 amendment, effective July 1, 1990, substituted "department" for "division" at the end of the section and made a minor stylistic change.

Due process not violated by actions of tax officials. — Department did not violate taxpayer's right to due process by: (1) making an assessment before the taxpayer provided pertinent records; (2) targeting the taxpayer because it had no history of reporting compensating taxes; and (3) delaying 18 months from the time of an audit notice to the time of the field audit. Vivigen, Inc. v. Minzner, 1994-NMCA-027, 117 N.M. 224, 870 P.2d 1382.

No offset for prior years investment credits. — A taxpayer was not entitled to an offset in the amount it owed for compensating taxes for investment credits it had made in previous years, because it had not claimed the credits within the one-year statute of limitations period. Although the taxpayer argued that it was entitled to an offset under the doctrine of equitable recoupment, a taxpayer is not entitled to seek a credit after the statute-of-limitations period has expired unless the state is imposing a tax on the same taxable event on a ground that is inconsistent with the original payment by the taxpayer. Vivigen, Inc. v. Minzner, 1994-NMCA-027, 117 N.M. 224, 870 P.2d 1382.