Insurers owe New Mexico $65M in back taxes, audit finds
Seventeen insurance companies doing business in New Mexico still owe the state $65 million in taxes going back more than a decade, according to an audit released Tuesday.
The audit comes after years of controversy over whether the 3 percent tax on the premiums of health, auto, life and other insurance products was properly collected, and if companies took advantage of credits and deductions as they self-reported the payments going back to 2003.
The state Office of the Superintendent of Insurance, which was a part of the Public Regulation Commission until 2013, is responsible for collecting the tax. It totaled $230 million for the last fiscal year. The money goes to the state general fund that pays for education and day-to-day government operations.
“This audit brings much needed clarity to decades of longstanding disagreements about amounts collected and owed when it comes to premium taxes,” said State Auditor Tim Keller, a Democrat.
Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/insurers-owe-new-mexico-m-in-back-taxes-audit-finds/article_c8668b52-274b-54b6-8365-57c032c75b0f.html