A. A taxpayer who is not a dependent of another individual and who employs a qualified military veteran in New Mexico is eligible for a credit against the taxpayer's tax liability imposed pursuant to the Income Tax Act in an amount up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) of the gross wages paid to each qualified military veteran by the taxpayer during the taxable year for which the return is filed. A taxpayer who employs a qualified military veteran for less than the full taxable year is eligible for a credit amount equal to one thousand dollars ($1,000) multiplied by the fraction of a full year for which the qualified military veteran was employed. The tax credit provided by this section may be referred to as the "veteran employment tax credit".

B. The purpose of the veteran employment tax credit is to encourage the full-time employment of qualified military veterans within two years of discharge from the armed forces of the United States.

C. A taxpayer may claim the veteran employment tax credit provided in this section for each taxable year in which the taxpayer employs one or more qualified military veterans; provided that the taxpayer may not claim the veteran employment tax credit for any individual qualified military veteran for more than one calendar year from the date of hire.

D. That portion of a veteran employment tax credit approved by the department that exceeds a taxpayer's income tax liability in the taxable year in which the veteran employment tax credit is claimed shall not be refunded to the taxpayer but may be carried forward for up to three years. The veteran employment tax credit shall not be transferred to another taxpayer.

E. A husband and wife filing separate returns for a taxable year for which they could have filed a joint return may each claim only one-half of the veteran employment tax credit that would have been claimed on a joint return.

F. A taxpayer may be allocated the right to claim a veteran employment tax credit in proportion to its ownership interest if the taxpayer owns an interest in a business entity that is taxed for federal income tax purposes as a partnership and that business entity has met all of the 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 Subsection A of this section.

G. The taxpayer shall submit to the department with respect to each employee for whom the veteran employment tax credit is claimed information required by the department with respect to the veteran's employment by the taxpayer during the taxable year for which the veteran employment tax credit is claimed, including information establishing that the employee is a qualified military veteran that can be used to determine that the employee was not also employed in the same taxable year by another taxpayer claiming a veteran employment tax credit for that employee pursuant to this section or the Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 2A NMSA 1978].

H. The department shall adopt rules establishing procedures to certify qualified military veterans for purposes of obtaining a veteran employment tax credit. The rules shall ensure that not more than one veteran employment tax credit per qualified military veteran shall be allowed in a taxable year and that the credits allowed per qualified military veteran are limited to a maximum of one year's employment.

I. As used in this section, "qualified military veteran" means an individual who is hired within two years of receipt of an honorable discharge from a branch of the United States military, who works at least forty hours per week during the taxable year for which the veteran employment tax credit is claimed and who was not previously employed by the taxpayer prior to the individual's deployment.

History: Laws 2012, ch. 55, § 1.

Effective dates. — Laws 2012, ch. 55 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective May 16, 2012, 90 days after the adjournment of the legislature.

Applicability. — Laws 2012, ch. 55, § 3 provided that the provisions of Laws 2012, ch. 55, § 1 applies to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2012 and ending on or before January 1, 2017.