After the pandemic, 83% of corporate taxes remain unpaid in N.M.

Companies operating in New Mexico who are behind on their taxes and were given extra time to catch up ended up paying only 17 percent of what they owe the state, a legislative panel learned on Thursday, Sept. 2.

House Bill 6 was passed in the first special session in 2020 as part of a series of pandemic-response measures. It required corporations and individuals to file their tax returns on time, but gave them more time to pay without penalties or interest.

Overall, $30.5 million in corporate income taxes qualified for relief under the bill, but $25.3 million, or nearly 83%, remains unpaid after the deadline, according to the state Taxation and Revenue Department.

Individuals did substantially better at getting their taxes paid. Of the $69.5 million in personal income taxes that qualified for relief, only $26.9 million, or nearly 39%, remains unpaid.

“That money (corporate and personal) is back in the process of having penalty and interest charged,” Department Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke told the Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee, which met on the Senate floor.

The bill also extended payment deadlines for payroll withholding and gross receipts taxes, totaling $25.6 million. Of that, $15 million remains unpaid.

It also extended deadlines for property taxes, but the department does not know how much tax money qualified for relief or how much has been paid, because county governments collect property taxes in New Mexico.