As used in the Tax Refund Intercept Program Act:
A. "claimant agency" means the taxation and revenue department or any of its divisions, the human services department, the workforce transition services division of the workforce solutions department, the higher education department, the workers' compensation administration, any corporation authorized to be formed under the Educational Assistance Act [Chapter 21, Article 21A NMSA 1978], a district, magistrate or municipal court or the Bernalillo county metropolitan court;
B. "debt" means a legally enforceable obligation of an employer subject to the Unemployment Compensation Law [Chapter 51 NMSA 1978], the Workers' Compensation Act [Chapter 52, Article 1 NMSA 1978] and the Workers' Compensation Administration Act [Chapter 52, Article 5 NMSA 1978], or an individual to pay a liquidated amount of money that:
(1) is equal to or more than one hundred dollars ($100);
(2) is due and owing a claimant agency, which a claimant agency is obligated by law to collect or which, in the case of an educational loan, a claimant agency has lawfully contracted to collect;
(3) has accrued through contract, tort, subrogation or operation of law; and
(4) either:
(a) has been secured by a warrant of levy and lien for amounts due under the Unemployment Compensation Law or workers' compensation fees due under the Workers' Compensation Administration Act; or
(b) has been reduced to judgment for all other cases;
C. "debtor" means any employer subject to the Unemployment Compensation Law, the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Compensation Administration Act, or any individual owing a debt;
D. "department" or "division" means, unless the context indicates otherwise, the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the secretary;
E. "educational loan" means any loan for educational purposes owned by a public post-secondary educational institution, originated and owned by the higher education department or owned or guaranteed by any corporation authorized to be formed under the Educational Assistance Act;
F. "medical support" means amounts owed to the human services department pursuant to the provisions of Subsection B of Section 40-4C-12 NMSA 1978;
G. "public post-secondary educational institution" means a publicly owned or operated institution of higher education or other publicly owned or operated post-secondary educational facility located within New Mexico;
H. "spouse" means an individual who is or was a spouse of the debtor and who has joined with the debtor in filing a joint return of income tax pursuant to the provisions of the Income Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 2 NMSA 1978], which joint return has given rise to a refund that may be subject to the provisions of the Tax Refund Intercept Program Act; and
I. "refund" means a refund, including any amount of tax rebates or credits, under the Income Tax Act or the Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 2A NMSA 1978] that the department has determined to be due to an individual or corporation.
History: Laws 1985, ch. 106, § 3; 1986, ch. 20, § 53; 1987, ch. 125, § 2; 1988, ch. 49, § 2; 1991, ch. 141, § 1; 1991, ch. 184, § 2; 1993, ch. 261, § 3; 1994, ch. 56, § 1; 1994, ch. 76, § 2; 1997, ch. 210, § 2; 2006, ch. 52, § 2; 2006, ch. 53, § 2; 2017, ch. 82, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, authorized the higher education department to be a claimant under the Tax Refund Intercept Program Act, and revised the definition of "educational loan" to include any loan originated and owned by the higher education department; in Subsection A, after "human services department, the", deleted "employment security division of the labor" and added "workforce transition services division of the workforce solutions", and after the next occurrence of "department,", added "the higher education department"; and in Subsection E, after "educational institution", added "originated and owned by the higher education department".
The 2006 amendment, effective May 17, 2006, added the workers' compensation administration to the definition of "claimant agency" in Subsection A; added obligations of employers subject to the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Compensation Administration Act as a "debt" in Subsection B; deleted former Paragraph (4) of Subsection B, which provided that a "debt" included obligations due under the unemployment compensation law that has been secured by a warrant of levy or lien or has been reduced to judgment; added Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of Paragraph (4) of Subsection B, which provided that "debt" includes obligations that have either been secured by a warrant of levy and lien for amounts due under the unemployment compensation law or workers' compensation fees due under the Workers' Compensation Administration Act or reduced to judgment for other cases; included within the definition of "debtor" in Subsection C, employers subject to the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Compensation Administration Act; and included rebates or credits under the Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Act due to a corporation as a "refund" in Subsection I.
The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, substituted "district, magistrate or municipal court" for "magistrate court" in Subsection A.
The 1994 amendment, effective March 4, 1994, inserted Subsection F, and redesignated former Subsections F to H as Subsections G to I.
The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, deleted "or" before "any corporation" and added "a magistrate court or the Bernalillo county metropolitan court" to the end, in Subsection A; substituted "one hundred dollars ($100)" for "one hundred fifty dollars ($150)" in Paragraph (1) of Subsection B; and made a stylistic change in Subsection H.
The 1991 amendment, effective January 1, 1992, inserted "the employment security division of the labor department" in Subsection A; in Subsection B, inserted "an employer subject to the Unemployment Compensation Law or" in the introductory phrase, deleted "and has been reduced to judgment" following "law" in Paragraph (3), rewrote Paragraph (4), which read "which, in the case of an educational loan has been reduced to judgment," and made minor stylistic changes; and inserted "employer subject to the Unemployment Compensation Law or any" in Subsection C.