2013 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 7 - Taxation
Article 1 - Administration
Section 7-1-24.1 - Disputing liabilities; conduct of hearings; hearing officer. (2013)

A.   Upon timely receipt of a protest filed pursuant to Section 7-1-24 NMSA 1978, the department or a hearing officer shall set a date for a hearing within ninety days.

B.   A hearing officer shall be designated by the secretary to conduct the hearing.  A taxpayer may appear at a hearing on the taxpayer's own behalf or may be represented by a bona fide employee, an attorney, a certified public accountant, a registered public accountant or, with respect only to tax imposed pursuant to the Income Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 2 NMSA 1978], a person who is an enrolled agent for federal income tax purposes.  If the department and the taxpayer agree, the hearing may be conducted via videoconference.  A hearing shall not be open to the public except upon request of the taxpayer.  A hearing officer may postpone or continue a hearing at the hearing officer's discretion.

C.   A hearing officer shall not engage or participate as an employee of the department in the enforcement or formulation of general tax policy, other than to conduct hearings.  A taxpayer may request that the secretary determine whether a hearing officer engaged or participated in the enforcement or formulation of general tax policy and whether that engagement or participation affects the hearing officer's impartiality in a particular matter.  The secretary may designate another hearing officer for the matter to avoid actual or apparent prejudice.

D.   A hearing officer shall not engage in ex-parte communications concerning the substantive issues of any matter that has been protested while that matter is still pending.  If the secretary determines that a hearing officer has engaged in prohibited ex-parte communications, the secretary shall designate another hearing officer for that matter.

E.   The rules of evidence shall not apply in a hearing.  The hearing officer may require reasonable substantiation of statements or records tendered, the accuracy or truth of which is in reasonable doubt, to rule on the admissibility of evidence.  A taxpayer may request a written ruling on a contested question of evidence in a matter in which the taxpayer has filed a written protest and for which that protest is pending.

F.   In hearings before a hearing officer, the Rules of Civil Procedure for the District Courts shall not apply.  The hearing officer shall conduct a hearing to allow the ample and fair presentation of both complaints and defenses.  The hearing officer shall hear arguments, permit discovery, entertain and dispose of motions, require written expositions of the case as the circumstances justify and render a decision in accordance with the law and the evidence presented and admitted.  A taxpayer may request a written ruling on any contested question of procedure in a matter in which the taxpayer has filed a written protest and for which that protest is pending.

G.   In the case of a hearing of any protest, the hearing officer shall make and preserve a complete record of the proceedings.  At the beginning of the hearing, the hearing officer shall inform the taxpayer of the taxpayer's right to representation.  The hearing officer, within thirty days of the conclusion of the hearing, shall inform the protestant in writing of the decision and of the protestant's right to, and the requirements for perfection of, an appeal from the decision to the court of appeals and of the consequences of a failure to appeal.  The written decision shall embody an order granting or denying the relief requested or granting or denying a part of the relief requested as appropriate. 

H.   A taxpayer with two or more protests containing related issues may request that the protests be combined and heard jointly.  The hearing officer shall grant the request to combine protests unless it would create an unreasonable burden on the department.