Key takeaways
- The return is Form TRD-41413, filed on TAP, and it is due on the 25th of the month after the period ends.
- The client's filing frequency, monthly, quarterly or semiannual, is printed on its Registration Certificate, so read it before building the calendar.
- A return is required even when no tax is due, and the late penalty is at least $5.00.
- Report receipts by the customer's location code, with tax backed out of Column D.
- Hold the Nontaxable Transaction Certificate for every deduction before you claim it.
What the client is actually filing
New Mexico taxes gross receipts, not retail sales. The Taxation and Revenue Department says the tax is imposed on businesses, and its page states that there are not any deductions for business expenses. A client can pass the tax on to customers, but the return belongs to the seller and reports receipts whether or not tax was separately charged.
A client who invoices without tax still owes it on the receipts, so you back it out of the total.
Before the first filing, confirm the client has a New Mexico Business Tax Identification Number (NMBTIN). The instructions say not to file unless you have one. If the client has none, the registration is ACD-31015, Business Tax Registration Application and Update Form.
File on the Taxpayer Access Point
The department asks that returns be filed on TAP, at tap.state.nm.us, and filing there is free. The steps in the instructions: log on, select Gross Receipts Tax (GRT), choose File Now in the return panel, check the signature box, submit, then print the confirmation page and keep it in the client file. Do not also mail a paper return.
If you are not the taxpayer, the client has to give you access. The instructions point to ACD-31102, Tax Information Authorization Disclosure, for letting another party into the account. Get that signed at onboarding, not on the 24th.
TAP accepts a return before the period ends once you acknowledge that, and the instructions say no penalty is imposed for reporting and paying early.
Electronic filing and payment is required when the average monthly gross receipts tax liability in the preceding calendar year was $1,000 or more. A filer who cannot comply uses RPD-41350 (exception) or RPD-41351 (waiver). Electronic check has no charge on TAP; a card carries a 2.40% convenience fee.
Filing frequency and how it is assigned
The department assigns monthly, quarterly or semiannual filing, and the status is on the client's Registration Certificate. Ask for that certificate in the first document request; do not guess from revenue.
The regulation lets a taxpayer whose liability averages less than $200 per month be authorized to report quarterly or semiannually, and it says a taxpayer cannot change reporting interval without prior approval from the secretary or the secretary's delegate. Review each client's average liability every January.
Seasonal, temporary and special event filers use the monthly status.
Due dates and weekend rules for the next filings
Every period is due on the 25th of the month after it ends. If that day is a weekend or a legal, state or national holiday, the return and payment move to the next business day. A paper return is timely if postmarked by the due date.
Monthly filers: the October 2026 period is due November 25, 2026. The November 2026 period is due December 25, and since December 25 is Christmas, the due date moves to the next business day, which on the calendar is Monday, December 28. Confirm that on the department's site before you tell a client. The December period is due January 25, 2027, a Monday.
Quarterly filers: the fourth quarter, October 1 through December 31, 2026, is due January 25, 2027. Quarterly dates are April 25, July 25, October 25 and January 25. Semiannual filers: the second half of 2026, July 1 through December 31, is due January 25, 2027, and the first half is due July 25.
Employers should note that since January 1, 2026, quarterly wage withholding returns are also due on the 25th of the month after the quarter, so they land on the same day as the gross receipts return. The annual statement of withholding is due January 31.
Reporting by location code on the TRD-41413
Since July 1, 2021, receipts are reported under destination-based sourcing, which means generally the location code where the customer is located. Before that date the seller's own location was used. A client who ships to customers in three municipalities needs three rows, each with its own location code and rate from the department's rate schedule.
Rates generally change only on July 1 each year, so look up each code in the current schedule.
Column D is gross receipts excluding tax. If the books record receipts with the tax included, divide by one plus the rate. The instructions give an example: $342.50 including tax at 8.1875% becomes $316.58, from 342.50 divided by 1.081875. Deductions go in Column F, taxable receipts are Column G and tax due is Column I.
Out-of-state sales use special codes: 88-888 for an out-of-state location for a professional service or shipping goods out of state, and 77-777 for research and development services performed outside New Mexico, both at 4.875%. A seller with no physical presence must file once it has $100,000 of taxable gross receipts in the previous calendar year.
Use Schedule A when one page cannot hold all the locations. An amended return is a full TRD-41413 with the amended box checked, not a page of adjustments.
Deductions and the certificates behind them
The instructions require the taxpayer to hold a Nontaxable Transaction Certificate, other acceptable evidence or the statute or regulation behind each deduction, and a deduction cannot exceed the Column D receipts for that location. Business expenses are not deductions at all.
Some deductions must sit on their own line with a D0 code in Column E. Medicare receipts for a health care provider use D0-010, for example, and certain practitioners also use special rate code M in Column C. Keep them off the general deduction line.
So the rule is: if a customer was not charged tax because of resale, manufacturing or a government buyer, get the signed certificate before the filing and file it under the customer. A buyer who will send it later leaves an unsupported deduction in the meantime.
Late filing costs, with a worked case
Line 4 charges a penalty of 2% of the tax per month or partial month, any fraction counting as a full month, up to 20% of the tax or a minimum of $5.00, whichever is greater. The $5.00 minimum also applies to failing to file when no tax is due, so a zero return is not optional.
Example: a client owes $2,400 on the November 25 return and pays 11 weeks late, which touches three months. The penalty is 6% of the tax, plus interest. Paid two days late, it is still one full month at 2%, which is $48.
Interest runs daily at a rate tied to the IRS individual rate, which changes quarterly, and it stops when the principal is paid. Under $1.00 total, none is charged. Check the current quarter's rate on the department's penalty and interest page.
What to collect from the client every period
Ask for the same items each period: a sales report by customer ship-to or service location, not the client's address; the tax collected, to reconcile to Column I; new certificates received; any new Registration Certificate; and department letters.
Word the request so it takes minutes to answer, for example: "For October, send the sales report by customer location, any tax you collected and any certificates a buyer gave you. We file on TAP by November 25." Then log the reply.
A recurring request in Usual can carry that wording and the due date each period, with certificates uploaded as files and the client reminded before the 25th. Keep the confirmation page, filed return and certificates together for an audit.