New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 22 - COURTS › Chapter 600 - ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS OFFICE › Part 3 - HEARINGS UNDER THE TAX ADMINISTRATION ACT › Section 22.600.3.12 - APPEARANCES BY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Taxpayers may appear at a hearing for
				themselves or may be represented by any person expressly authorized under the
				Tax Administration Act or the Administrative Hearings Office Act to represent a
				taxpayer before the administrative hearings office. Unless otherwise changed,
				amended or repealed, Subsection H of Section
				7-1B-8
				NMSA 1978 expressly authorizes a taxpayer to represent themselves, or be
				represented by a bona fide employee, an attorney, a certified public
				accountant, an expressly authorized employee of a New Mexico licensed certified
				public accounting firm, or an enrolled agent. When the taxpayer is two
				individuals who have been jointly assessed, such as a married couple who filed
				a joint personal income tax return, either individual may serve as the
				taxpayer's representative.
B. Any
				attorney representing a taxpayer before the administrative hearings office
				shall file an entry of appearance in the matter. If the attorney has prepared
				the protest letter on behalf of the taxpayer, the protest letter signed by the
				attorney constitutes a valid entry of appearance unless otherwise expressly
				limited by the taxpayer or the attorney. An attorney's entry of appearance
				constitutes a written authorization for representation of a taxpayer without
				need for the specific, separate, signed taxpayer authorization specified in
				Subsection C. Any attorney, including those employed as in-house counsel,
				representing taxpayers in the filing of any motion, conduct of motions hearing,
				or conduct of a merits hearing must be licensed in good standing to practice
				law in New Mexico or in compliance with the pro hac vice requirements found
				under Rule 24-106 NMRA.
C. If a
				taxpayer intends to be represented by the authorized employee of a New Mexico
				licensed certified public accounting firm, then that firm shall provide a
				written authorization permitting its employee to act in a representative
				capacity for the taxpayer, on behalf of the firm. The authorization shall be
				executed by an individual having supervisory responsibility over the designated
				employee and authority to bind the New Mexico licensed certified public
				accounting firm in contract.
D.
				Except as otherwise provided, a taxpayer shall file a signed, written
				authorization with the administrative hearings office designating any person,
				except an attorney, expressly authorized under the Tax Administration Act or
				the administrative hearings office to represent the taxpayer in a specific
				protest proceeding. When the taxpayer is an entity, the signature of any bona
				fide employee of the taxpayer shall be deemed to be the taxpayer's signature.
				The written authorization need not be a specific or technical form, but may be
				included as a statement in the protest designating an authorized
				representative, on a taxpayer information authorization form filed with TRD, or
				as a statement in a subsequent pleading filed with the administrative hearings
				office.
E. All written
				authorizations or entries of appearance should include the name, mailing
				address, phone number, and electronic mail address of the authorized
				representative. The taxpayer and any representative who has entered an
				appearance or written authorization to appear has an ongoing duty to inform the
				administrative hearings office and the opposing party of any change of mailing
				address, contact phone number, or contact email address.
F. After a written authorization or entry of
				appearance has been filed in a case, a change in a taxpayer's representation
				requires a new, signed written authorization from the taxpayer, an entry of
				appearance from an attorney if no attorney has previously represented the
				taxpayer, or a substitution of counsel and new entry of appearance in the event
				that a taxpayer has engaged a different attorney to represent the taxpayer in
				the protest.
G. Any person
				designated by the taxpayer in the protest letter, through a written
				authorization or entry of appearance shall be deemed to be an authorized
				representative of the taxpayer for the purposes of conducting the scheduling
				hearing(s) before the administrative hearings office. At the scheduling
				hearing, the taxpayer and their representative (if any) will be advised of the
				statutory right to and limitations of representation during the hearing
				process.
H. After the scheduling
				hearing and advisement of the statutory right to and limitations of
				representation during the hearing process, if the taxpayer's representative is
				not a person who is expressly authorized to represent the taxpayer before the
				administrative hearings office under the Tax Administration Act or the
				Administrative Hearings Office Act, that person may not serve as a
				representative of the taxpayer in the proceeding before the administrative
				hearings office. In that event, the taxpayer may be granted an additional
				opportunity before conduct of the hearing to arrange for appropriate
				representation. Any delay in the hearing process for this reason will be
				attributed to the taxpayer.
I. All
				parties shall have a responsibility of candor to the administrative hearings
				office and shall not knowingly make false statements to the hearing officer.
				The administrative hearings office is a tribunal for purposes of Rule 16-303
				NMRA. An attorney, a certified public accountant, the authorized employee of a
				New Mexico certified public accountant, an enrolled agent, or any other
				statutorily permitted representative of a taxpayer in a protest hearing shall
				abide by their respective controlling professional or ethical standards of
				conduct at all stages of the administrative proceeding before the
				administrative hearings office. In the event of an apparent breach of
				applicable standards of conduct, ethics or professionalism, in addition to
				reporting the breach to the appropriate disciplinary board, the assigned
				hearing officer may take other reasonable and appropriate measures within the
				hearing officer's statutory and regulatory authority necessary to maintain
				order and ensure a fair hearing process for all parties, up to and including
				disqualification.