As used in the Liquor Excise Tax Act:

A. "alcoholic beverages" means distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, aromatic bitters or any similar beverage, including blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume, but "alcoholic beverages" does not include medicinal bitters;

B. "beer" means an alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of any infusion or decoction of barley, malt and hops or other cereals in water and includes porter, beer, ale and stout;

C. "cider" means an alcoholic beverage made from the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound, ripe apples or pears that contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume and not more than eight and one-half percent of alcohol by volume;

D. "department" means 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. "fortified wine" means wine containing more than fourteen percent alcohol by volume when bottled or packaged by the manufacturer, but "fortified wine" does not include:

(1) wine that is sealed or capped by cork closure and aged two years or more;

(2) wine that contains more than fourteen percent alcohol by volume solely as a result of the natural fermentation process and that has not been produced with the addition of wine spirits, brandy or alcohol; or

(3) vermouth and sherry;

F. "microbrewer" means a person who produces less than two hundred thousand barrels of beer per year;

G. "person" includes, to the extent permitted by law, a federal, state or other governmental unit or subdivision or an agency, department, institution or instrumentality thereof;

H. "small winegrower" means a winegrower who produces less than one million five hundred thousand liters of wine in a year;

I. "spirituous liquors" means alcoholic beverages, except fermented beverages such as wine, beer, cider and ale;

J. "wholesaler" means a person holding a license issued under Section 60-6A-1 NMSA 1978 or a person selling alcoholic beverages that were not purchased from a person holding a license issued under Section 60-6A-1 NMSA 1978;

K. "wine" means an alcoholic beverage other than cider that is obtained by the fermentation of the natural sugar contained in fruit or other agricultural products, with or without the addition of sugar or other products, and that does not contain more than twenty-one percent alcohol by volume; and

L. "winegrower" means a person licensed pursuant to Section 60-6A-11 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 46-7-16, enacted by Laws 1966, ch. 49, § 2; recompiled as 1953 Comp., § 72-32-2, by Laws 1973, ch. 166, § 2; 1984, ch. 85, § 2; 1986, ch. 20, § 74; 1991, ch. 161, § 1; 1993, ch. 65, § 6; 1994, ch. 52, § 1; 1995, ch. 70, § 18; 1995, ch. 74, § 1; 1996, ch. 49, § 1; 1997, ch. 143, § 1; 2000 (2nd S.S.), ch. 8, § 1; 2008, ch. 82, § 1; 2013, ch. 94, § 1; 2013, ch. 95, § 1; 2019, ch. 229, § 1.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, revised the definitions of "cider" and "microbrewer" as used in the Liquor Excise Tax Act; in Subsection C, after "ripe apples", added "or pears", after "not more than", deleted "seven" and added "eight and one-half"; and in Subsection F, deleted former Paragraphs F(1) through F(3) and added "a person who produces less than two hundred thousand barrels of beer per year".

2013 Multiple Amendments. — Laws 2013, ch. 95, § 1, effective January 1, 2014, increased the volume limit for small wine growers; and in Subsection H, after "winegrower who produces", deleted "fewer than nine hundred fifty thousand" and added "less than one million five hundred thousand".

Laws 2013, ch. 94, § 1, effective January 1, 2014, deleted former Subsection F and added a new Subsection F.

The 2008 amendment, effective July 1, 2008, deleted the former definitions of "spirituous liquor", "fortified wine" and "wine"; in Subsection H, increased the maximum production of wine from five hundred sixty thousand liters to nine hundred fifty thousand liters; and added Subsections E, I, K and L.

The 2000 amendment, effective July 1, 2000, substituted "five hundred sixty thousand liters" for "three hundred seventy-five thousand liters" in Subsection E.

The 1997 amendment, effective July 1, 1997, made several stylistic changes throughout the section and substituted "three hundred seventy-five thousand" for "two hundred twenty thousand" in Subsection E.

The 1996 amendment, effective July 1, 1996, inserted "cider" in Paragraph A(1), added Paragraph A(3) and redesignated the following paragraphs accordingly, and inserted "other than cider" near the beginning of Paragraph A(5).

The 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1995, deleted former Subsection B, redesignated the remaining sections appropriately, and deleted "'director' or 'division'" following "'department'" in Subsection B.

The 1994 amendment, effective July 1, 1994, in Paragraph A(3), substituted "and aged two years of more" for "aged two years or more and sold only in 750 milliliter bottles or" in Subparagraph (a) and "or" for "and" at the end of Subparagraph (b), and added Subparagraph (c).

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, in Subsection A, added Paragraph (3) and redesignated former Paragraph (3) as Paragraph (4); added Subsection D and redesignated former Subsections D through F as Subsections E through G; and deleted provisions in Subsection F, pertaining to persons designated as small domestic producers for purposes of Section 5041 of the Internal Revenue Code.

The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1987, added Subsection E; redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection F; and made minor stylistic changes in Subsections A and B.