us-nm/stat
NMSA 1978, § 7-2-18.40 — Local journalist employment income tax credit
A.
For taxable years prior to January 1, 2032, a taxpayer who is not a dependent of
another individual and is an owner of a local news organization that employs a journalist
may claim a credit against the taxpayer's tax liability imposed pursuant to the Income
Tax Act in an amount provided in Subsection B of this section. The tax credit provided
by this section may be referred to as the "local journalist employment income tax credit".
B.
The amount of tax credit shall be in an amount equal to thirty percent of wages
paid to each journalist employed by a local news organization.
C.
A taxpayer shall apply for certification of eligibility for the tax credit from the
department on forms and in the manner prescribed by the department no later than one
year following the end of the calendar year in which the wages were paid. A taxpayer
shall not be eligible to receive a tax credit for more than seventy-five journalists whom
the taxpayer employs as a local news organization and, except as provided in
Subsections F and G of this section, only one tax credit shall be certified for each
journalist employed by a local news organization per taxable year. The total annual
aggregate amount of local journalist employment income tax credits and local journalist
employment corporate income tax credits that may be certified in a calendar year shall
not exceed four million dollars ($4,000,000). Completed applications shall be
considered in the order received.
D.
If the department determines that the taxpayer meets the requirements of this
section, the department shall issue a dated certificate of eligibility to the taxpayer
providing the amount of tax credit for which the taxpayer is eligible and the taxable
years in which the credit may be claimed.
E.
That portion of tax credit that exceeds a taxpayer's income tax liability in the
taxable year in which the credit is claimed shall be refunded to the taxpayer.
F.
Married individuals filing separate returns for a taxable year for which they could
have filed a joint return may each claim only one-half of the tax credit that would have
been claimed on a joint return.
G.
A taxpayer may be allocated the right to claim the tax credit in proportion to the
taxpayer's ownership interest if the taxpayer owns an interest in a business entity that is
taxed for federal income tax purposes as a partnership or limited liability company and
the business entity has met all requirements to be eligible for the credit. The total credit
claimed by all members of the partnership or limited liability company shall not exceed
the allowable credit pursuant to this section.
H.
A taxpayer allowed to claim a tax credit pursuant to this section shall claim the
tax credit in a manner required by the department.
I.
The tax credit provided by this section shall be included in the tax expenditure
budget pursuant to Section 7-1-84 NMSA 1978, including the total annual aggregate
cost of the tax credit.
J.
As used in this section:
(1) "journalist" means a person who:
(a) is paid by a local news organization to regularly gather, prepare, collect,
photograph, record, direct the recording of, produce, write, edit, report or publish news
or information that concerns state or local events or other matters of public interest for
dissemination to the state or a local community through reporting activities, including
conducting interviews, observing current events or analyzing documents;
(b) resides within fifty miles of the coverage area assigned by the local news
organization; and
(c) is employed as a journalist by the local news organization for more than
twenty-eight weeks of the taxable year in which the credit is claimed;
(2) "local news organization" means an entity that:
(a) provides a print or digital publication that engages professionals who
regularly gather, prepare, collect, photograph, record, direct the recording of, produce,
write, edit, report or publish news or information that concerns state or local events or
other matters of public interest for dissemination to the state or a local community
through reporting activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events or
analyzing documents;
(b) pays at least one individual, either through employment or by contract with
the entity, as a journalist;
(c) in the case of print publications, has published at least one print
publication per month over the previous twenty-four months and holds a valid United
States postal service periodical permit or has at least thirty percent of its content
dedicated to state or local news;
(d) in the case of digital-only entities, has published at least three originally
produced stories about the state or a local community per week averaged over the
previous twenty-four months and has at least fifty percent of its digital audience in New
Mexico, averaged over a twelve-month period;
(e) discloses in its print publication or on its website its beneficial ownership
or, in the case of a not-for-profit entity, its board of directors;
(f) in the case of an organization that demonstrates to the department that
the organization has been granted exemption from the federal income tax by the United
States commissioner of internal revenue as organizations described in Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, has declared the coverage of state or local
news as the stated mission in its filings with the federal internal revenue service;
(g) has not received more than ten percent of its gross receipts for the
previous year from political action committees or other entities described in Section 527
of the Internal Revenue Code, or from an organization that has been granted exemption
from the federal income tax by the United States commissioner of internal revenue as
an organization described in Section 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue
Code; and
(h) is not a publicly traded entity or is no more than forty-nine percent owned,
directly or indirectly, by a publicly traded entity or subsidiary; and
(3) "wages" means not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in
compensation paid by a local news organization to a journalist through the
organization's payroll system, including those wages that the journalist elects to defer or
redirect or the journalist's contribution to a 401(k) or cafeteria plan program. "Wages"
does not mean benefits or the organization's share of payroll taxes, social security or
medicare contributions, federal or state unemployment insurance contributions or
workers' compensation.
Source: official text