2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 7 - Taxation › Article 1 - Administration › Section 7-1-31 - Seizure of property by levy for collection of taxes.

A. The secretary or secretary's delegate may proceed to collect tax from a delinquent taxpayer by levy upon all property or rights to property of the delinquent taxpayer and convert the property or rights to property to money by appropriate means.
B. A levy is made by taking possession of property pursuant to authority contained in a warrant of levy or by the service, by the secretary or secretary's delegate or any sheriff or certified law enforcement employee of the department of public safety, of the warrant upon the taxpayer or other person in possession of property or rights to property of the taxpayer, upon the taxpayer's employer or upon any person or depositary owing or who will owe money to or holding funds of the taxpayer, ordering the taxpayer or other person to reveal the extent thereof and surrender it to the secretary or secretary's delegate forthwith or agree to surrender it or the proceeds therefrom in the future, but in any case on the terms and conditions stated in the warrant.
C. Upon agreement between the department and a financial institution, the department may serve a warrant of levy on the financial institution in electronic format pursuant to the Electronic Authentication of Documents Act [14-15-1 to 14-15-6 NMSA 1978] and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act [Chapter 14, Article 16 NMSA 1978].
History:
1953 Comp., § 72-13-45, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 248, § 33; 1979, ch. 144, § 28; 1993, ch. 242, § 1; 2015, ch. 15, § 1.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2015 amendment,
effective July 1, 2015, provided the department of taxation and revenue with the authority to collect delinquent property taxes by serving a warrant of levy on a financial institution in electronic format and expanded the authority to collect delinquent property taxes by allowing any certified law enforcement employee of the department of public safety to serve warrants of levy; in Subsection A, after "property of", deleted "such person and the conversion thereof" and added "the delinquent taxpayer and convert the property or rights to property"; in Subsection B, after "sheriff", added "or certified law enforcement employee of the department of public safety", and after "ordering", deleted "him" and added "the taxpayer or other person"; and added Subsection C.
The 1993 amendment,
effective July 1, 1993, substituted "secretary or secretary's delegate" for "director or his delegate" in Subsection A and in two places in Subsection B, and inserted "upon the taxpayer's employer" near the middle of Subsection B.
Trustee was obligated by notice of levy to pay over to taxing authority the amount of fees owed.
— Where a debtor filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, and where, after the bankruptcy court confirmed the debtor's Chapter 13 plan, debtor's attorney filed a fee application which was approved by the bankruptcy court, and where the Chapter 13 trustee, prior to paying the attorney fee, was served with a warrant of levy from the state of New Mexico taxation and revenue division (TRD), the bankruptcy court directed the trustee to pay the TRD, because it was the intention of the New Mexico legislature to give the TRD the power to levy on debts owed by third parties to delinquent taxpayers.
In re Gonzales
, 587 B.R. 363 (Bankr. D. N.M. 2018).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 72 Am. Jur. 2d State and Local Taxation §§ 866 to 880.
Enforceability, against undivided tract, of tax or special assessment levied against part of it at one rate and part at another, 112 A.L.R. 73.
85 C.J.S. Taxation §§ 1032 et seq.