AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• Two health care facilities, Golden Services Home Health and Hospice and Unnamed Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, sought deductions from the gross receipts tax for qualifying payments under NMSA 1978, Section 7-9-93 (2007, amended 2016). The Taxation and Revenue Department of the State of New Mexico denied these claims, leading to administrative protests by the facilities. The core issue was whether these facilities were entitled to the tax deduction for payments received for services provided by health care practitioners (paras 2-5).

Procedural History

• In the Matter of the Protest of Golden Services, No 17-50, 2017 WL 6729674, *7, (Dec. 20, 2017): Administrative Hearing Officer (AHO) granted summary judgment in favor of Golden Services, finding the statute unambiguous and allowing the deduction (para 4).
• In the Matter of the Protest of Unnamed Nursing and Rehabilitation Center: A different AHO denied the Department’s motion for partial judgment, finding the statute clear and not excluding health care facilities from claiming the deduction (para 5).

Parties' Submissions

• Taxpayers (Golden Services Home Health and Hospice and Unnamed Nursing and Rehabilitation Center): Argued they were entitled to a deduction under Section 7-9-93 for payments received for services provided by health care practitioners, citing the statute's clarity and legislative intent not to exclude health care facilities from the deduction (paras 3-5).
• Respondent-Appellant (Taxation and Revenue Department of the State of New Mexico): Contended that health care facilities are not entitled to the deduction under Section 7-9-93, arguing the statute’s ambiguity, legislative intent, and the 2016 amendment's clarification that the deduction is limited to individual health care practitioners (para 7).

Legal Issues

• Whether health care facilities like the Taxpayers are entitled to a deduction from the gross receipts tax for qualifying payments under Section 7-9-93 (para 1).

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals reversed the AHOs’ decisions, concluding that health care facilities are not entitled to the deduction under Section 7-9-93 (para 7).

Reasons

• The Court, led by Chief Judge Hanisee, with Judges Duffy and Ives concurring, found the statute ambiguous regarding whether the deduction was available to health care facilities or limited to health care practitioners. The Court examined the statute's language, legislative history, and the Department's regulations, concluding that the legislative intent and the statute's structure indicated the deduction was intended for health care practitioners, not facilities. The Court also noted that deductions are construed strictly against the taxpayer, and the taxpayer bears the burden of proving eligibility for the deduction. The Court disagreed with the AHOs’ interpretations and found that the Department's regulations were a proper implementation of the statute. The Court further noted that the 2016 amendment clarified the legislative intent by specifying that only receipts of a health care practitioner are deductible, supporting the conclusion that health care facilities are not entitled to the deduction (paras 8-27).