Martinez order review of state taxes

From the New Mexico Independent - by Luke Johnson - Gov. Susana Martinez issued an executive order Friday asking the Taxation and Revenue Department to lead an investigation into the cost-effectiveness of “state tax expenditures” or the credits, exemptions and deductions that cost the state $1.3 billion in lost revenue each year. Martinez vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have created a committee to review the approximately 300 loopholes, preferring to have TRD look at the expenditures by executive order. In her order, Martinez said that tax credits were the same as spending programs: “These provisions have the effect of reducing state revenues and are thus equivalent to spending programs. For this reason they are referred to as ‘tax expenditures.’” Read more